It is reported that Canadian based Denison Mining Limited is planned to start uranium operations in Southern Zambia by 2012.

Mr Fred Siasuntwe district commissioner of Siavonga said that plans for the USD 118 million productions and mining of uranium in Southern Zambia were on schedule and that the company was ready to start operations by 2012 or the year after.

Recently Denison Mines Zambia Limited said that it is planning to open USD 118 million uranium mine in Zambia's Siavonga district in Southern Province, according to the state-run Environmental Council of Zambia.

In its an environmental impact statement by the miner and submitted to the ECZ, the company plans to open 2 open pits, and the ore from those pits will be processed into uranium oxide for export. The proposed project site located around 175 kilometers south of Lusaka, the Zambian capital will cover 0.873 square kilometers and is expected to displace around 107 households.

According to official data, an initial scoping study has identified historical mineral resource estimates of up to 13.7 million pounds of uranium. The company is updating the scoping study. There has been increased interest in Zambia's uranium sector over the past couple of years and last year, the Zambian government passed a law allowing foreign firms to start mining uranium on a large scale in a bid to diversify its copper-reliant mining sector. However, dropping global metal prices stalled a number of uranium projects.

According to industrial sources, with global metal prices recovering and a number of policy changes in Zambia, the country is likely to start uranium production by 2011 or there after.

(Filed by Mr Kapembwa Sinkamba SteelGuru Correspondent Zambia)