The South Inkai mine is a large
in-situ leaching
In-situ leaching (ISL), also called in-situ recovery (ISR) or solution mining, is a mining process used to recover minerals such as copper and uranium through boreholes drilled into a deposit, ''in situ''. In-situ leach works by artificially diss ...
mine located in the southern part of
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
in
South Kazakhstan Province
Turkistan Region, formerly known as South Kazakhstan Region from 1992 to 2018 and Chimkent Region from 1963 to 1991, is the southernmost Regions of Kazakhstan, region of Kazakhstan, bordering Uzbekistan. It had a population of 2,088,510 as of the ...
. South Inkai represents one of the largest
uranium
Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...
reserves in
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
having estimated reserves of 135.4 million tonnes of ore grading 0.026%
uranium
Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...
.
Commercial production from the South Inkai uranium mine started in January 2009.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:South Inkai Mine
Uranium mines in Kazakhstan