International Symposium on Uranium Raw Material for the Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Exploration, Mining, Production, Supply and Demand, Economics and Environmental Issues - IAEA CN-216

Approaches to mastering the uranium potential of Cameroon

25 Jun 2014, 17:00

1m

VIC, Poster area (Vienna)

Poster Advances in exploration and uranium mineral potential modelling Poster Session

Speaker

Ms Pulcherie Julie Chakam Tagheu (National Radiation Protection Agency Cameroon)

Description

Uranium deposits are spread over the five continents. According to the lnternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) estimation in 2009, the global reserves of economically recoverable uranium are estimated at 4,5 million tones. ln 2012, the world production of uranium was abou t 54,610 tones and the main producers were Kazakhstan (36%), Canada (15%) and Australia (12%). Brazil, Russia, China, lndia productions accounted for 9.4% of the overall world production. Significant deposits also exist in Africa including Cameroon; those currently in mining stage are in Namibia, Malawi, and Niger. Cameroon has significant mineral deposits such as gold, alluvial diamonds, iron, bauxite and uranium. All of them are still in the exploration stage. Although Cameroon has not launched a nuclear power programme, the mining of its uranium resources is considered as an important component of the national economy. Many uranium occurrences have so far been discovered in Cameroon. They include Kitongo, Salaki, Mayo Nielse and Teubang in the Northern region and Ngombas near Lolodorf in the Southern region. The Cameroon Government is engaged in (i) the assessment of the U-ore resource through drilling, and (ii) the airborne geophysical survey of mining potentials areas. The result of these studies may lead to a better estimation of the national uranium potential. This paper aims at pointing out constraints to assess the uranium potential of Cameroon and proposes measures that could improve on the leveraging of exploitation of this mineral.