MOSCOW, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Russian uranium miner ARMZ Holding said on Thursday it was holding talks with Cameco Corp (CCO.TO) on projects in Australia and Africa after strategic investment laws stalled the Canadian miner's projects in Russia.
State-controlled ARMZ, which mines uranium in Russia and Kazakhstan, has also raised its 2009 output forecast to 4,700 tonnes from an earlier estimate of 4,300 tonnes, deputy general director Alexander Boitsov told a news conference.
"Cameco at present is offering us projects in other countries," Boitsov said, adding these projects were in Africa and Australia. He did not specify which African countries.
The idea arose, he said, because a joint venture with Cameco to explore uranium deposits in northwest Russia had stalled due to laws limiting foreign access to strategic mineral resources.
"We will follow the situation on this project and find other ways to cooperate," Boitsov said.
Demand for uranium is growing worldwide as more nuclear power plants are built by countries trying to cut emissions and reduce fossil-fuel dependence.
Spot uranium UX-U308-SPT is trading at $46 per pound, down from records around $136 in June 2007.
ARMZ plans this month to hold talks in Namibia with French state-controlled nuclear reactor maker Areva (CEPFi.PA) on uranium projects in Africa, the Russian company's general director, Vadim Zhivov, said last month. [ID:nLA199057]
In 2007, Areva bought UraMin, the owner of the Trekkopje mine in Namibia, for $2.5 billion.
President Dmitry Medvedev visited Namibia in June as part of a trip to promote Russia's economic interests in Africa. Namibia's uranium resources are attractive to the Kremlin, which plans to build over two dozen new reactors in the next 15 years. ARMZ, the mining arm of state nuclear concern Rosatom, plans to increase uranium production to 4,700 tonnes this year from 3,880 tonnes in 2008, Boitsov said.
"It's a renewed forecast, because Kazakhstan has specified its indicators, and there have been changes for a host of different companies," he said. (Writing by Robin Paxton; Editing by Keiron Henderson
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