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Marubeni Corp, Japan's fifth-biggest trading company, has obtained first rights to conduct feasibility studies in Mongolian uranium mines, a company spokesman said on Tuesday. The move by Marubeni, set to become the first Japanese firm to acquire stakes in uranium mines in Mongolia, comes at a time when demand for the nuclear fuel is expected to rise as China goes through a nuclear building spree to boost clean energy use.

Russian atomic energy state corporation Rosatom and the Mongolian Nuclear Regulatory Authority have signed an agreement on stepping up cooperation. The document was signed following Russian-Mongolian talks between the two countries' prime ministers in Moscow today. As stated in the documents, the bilateral accord is meant to provide the impetus for developing interaction in the peaceful use of atomic energy. As reported earlier, news that Rosatom was poised to take part in developing Mongolia's nuclear energy industry first appeared in April 2008, when the Russian state corporations' chief Sergei Kiriyenko said following a meeting with Mongolian Prime Minister Sanjaa Bayar that Rosatom would draft the designs for a small- and medium-capacity nuclear power plant in Mongolia and possibly participate in the further exploration of the republic's uranium fields, as well as joint investment in uranium production and staff training. At the time, Rosatom estimated Mongolia's natural uranium reserves at over 100,000 tonnes.

* Joint venture to mine Dornod uranium deposit * Uranium reserves of 28,000 tonnes could be doubled * Canada's Khan Resources still owns 58 percent of licence * Investment of "hundreds of millions of dollars" (Adds quotes, details, background) By Denis Dyomkin and Lucy Hornby ULAN BATOR, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Mongolia welcomed Russia as its partner in a uranium mining venture on Tuesday as part of a wider pact to boost co-operation in infrastructure and farming, raising concerns for the Canadian miner that owns the deposit. Russian and Mongolian state-owned companies formed a joint venture to develop the Dornad deposit, which holds seven times as much uranium as Russia produced last year, after the Soviet-era allies settled a $150 million debt owed to Moscow.

In what would come as a major relief for India, the Kazakhstan government has announced that it is willing to carry out nuclear commerce with this country, including supplying 'yellow cake' to India. In an exclusive interview to this paper, Kazakhstan's ambassador to India Kairat Umarov has said that his country, slated to become the largest producer of uranium by 2010, is ready to supply uranium to India and that Kazakhstan also has the potential to take part in construction of atomic power plants. Kazakhstan is among the four countries (the others being Canada, Mongolia and Niger) India, which faces a shortage of 100,000 tonnes of high-grade uranium, has desperately seeks uranium from.

Armed with a waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG), India is now scouting for uranium from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Niger to fuel its atomic power plants which are running at half their installed capacity. For reliable and long term supplies of uranium, India is also exploring the possibility of joint mining and exploration initiatives in Mongolia, Prime Minister's Special Envoy Shyam Saran said.