Friday, June 27, 2008

Indian iron ore/steel giant Jindal snaps up Mongolian uranium JV

New Delhi-based conglomerate Jindal Steel& Power has purchased the Mongolian joint venture uranium assets of Vancouver-based junior companies Bluerock Resources and Uranerz Energy for US$2.6 million.

The sale includes all Mongolian uranium exploration projects and existing material assets the two junior companies maintain in Mongolia.

In a news release, Bluerock President and CEO Michael Collins said, "The sale of Bluerock's Mongolian exploration arm is a timely step for Bluerock as it allows the company to monetize the exploration results over the last two field reasons and redirect these funds towards Bluerock's main focus, our Southwest US uranium mining projects. Bluerock remains focused on building production, and in the ground resources in Colorado and Utah to support the company's on-going plan of becoming the next uranium producer in the United States."

The Mongolian JV project had eight separate land packages, altogether covering more than 280,000 hectares, primarily located in four settings in the central and eastern parts of Mongolia. The Khavtsal project is the most advanced exploration project in the package. Southwest of the Khavtsal in South Central Mongolia, preliminary work has identified several uranium anomalies.

The East Gobi/Tamtsag project comprises two exploration licenses in Eastern Mongolia.

Bluerock (TSX-V: BRD) hold a 60% ownership of the joint venture while Uranerz Energy (AMEX, TSX: URZ) holds 40%. Jindal has until August 26th to conduct its due diligence review and close the agreement.

A check of the Jindal website by Mineweb early Thursday revealed no uranium mines within the Indian company's stable of iron ore and coal mines. However, Jindal does have a diamond mining exploration division which is searching for diamonds, gold and other related minerals.

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