Mongolian uranium mining JV changes hands

Mongolian uranium: Canada’s Denison Mines is to sell its stake in the Gurvan Saihan uranium mine in Mongolia’s South Gobi region to the Czech Republic’s Uranium Industry for $20m, it announced last week.  
The  Gurvan Saihan Joint Venture (GSJV) was created in 1994 by Denison, the Mongolian government and Russia’s Geologorazvedka of Russia to explore and develop uranium deposits, particularly those amenable to in-situ leach extraction. Denison acquired Geologorazvedka’s share in 2011, giving it a total share of 85%. The remaining 15% is held by Mongolian state-owned uranium company MonAtom.
GSJV comprises 167,260 hectares divided into in exploration licences which it now wishes to convert into mining licences. Denison says it has carried out considerable work towards the submission of the mining licence applications and understands that all the necessary materials for the licence applications have been prepared and that the GSJV is eligible to receive the licences. “We are proud of the progress that Denison has made throughout the years in Mongolia, and we believe that Uranium Industry is very well positioned to take these assetsinto development and production,” said  its CEO David Cates
The sale comes as Denison focusses its attention on its merger with Fission Uranium which will create Denison Energy Corp, consolidating the two companies’ strategic uranium assets in Canada’s Athabasca Basin, including Fission’s Patterson Lake South project and Denison’s interests in Wheeler River and the McClean Lake uranium mill.