Nuclear Sites
Uranium Mining
Ardakan yellowcake production plant
The mill or Yellowcake Production Plant at Ardakan processes the ore from the Saghand mine into uranium ore concentrate (yellowcake). It is designed to process 50 tonnes of uranium per year, a capacity matching that of the Saghand mine. The mill is scheduled to begin operations at the start of mining at Saghand. The installation of the infrastructure and processing buildings at Ardakan began in 2004.
Gchine Mine and Mill
The Gchine mine is located in southern Iran near Bandar Abbas. The associated mill is located on site. The estimated production capacity for the mine is 21 tonnes of uranium per year. Questions were raised by the IAEA regarding the ownership of the mine and its relationship to Iran’s military. A detailed description of the IAEA’s discussions with Iran regarding the mine’s provenance and current status is contained in the February 2008 IAEA report.
The Saghand Mine
The Saghand Mine, located in Yazd in central Iran, is designed to extract low grade hard rock ore bodies through conventional underground mining techniques. The annual estimated production output of the mine is 50 tonnes of uranium.
According to IAEA reports, Chinese experts assessed that the mine contains approximately 1,000 tons of uranium. For some perspective on what this means, high-grade ore-bodies contain as much as 20 percent Uranium (U). Low-grade bodies contain 0.1% U. Concentrations under 0.075% (750 ppm) are generally considered uneconomical to mine1. Iran’s ore falls under this category, with concentrations of only 553 ppm.
