Uranium-miner Uranium One has finalised the sale of 49% of its Honeymoon project and other exploration prospects in Australia to Tokyo-based Mitsui & Co, the firms have announced.

Mitsui will pay at least A$104-million for its share in the new joint venture, a good deal of which will be used to bring the Honeymoon mine to commercial production.

The two companies were able to close the transaction after receiving the necessary government approvals from Australia.

The Honeymoon mine has a design capacity of 880 000 lb of uranium a year, with an expected mine life of six years.

Output is scheduled to begin in 2010, Uranium One executive vice-president for Australia and Asia Greg Cochran said in a statement.

Site development work will get under way this year, he added.

Besides the Honeymoon project, Mitsui has also acquired 49% of Uranium One's exploration portfolio in Australia, which include the Goulds Dam and Billeroo projects, as well as other tenements on the Stuart Shelf and the Eyre Peninsula.

The transaction was welcomed by South Australia Premier Mike Rann, who said that the investment of millions of dollars by an international company was an indication of the confidence that resource companies had in South Australia.

“The jobs and investment flowing from this joint venture agreement will support the long-term economic development of this State and provide important export earnings for Australia," Rann said

Uranium One, which mines the nuclear fuel in Kazakhstan also has assets in South Africa and the US, halted development at Honeymoon in May, while it evaluated "strategic alternatives" for the operation.

While the transaction with Uranium One is be its first foray into uranium mining, Mitsui said in October that it would "continue to investigate any investment opportunities around the world in view of contributing to security of energy supply on a global basis".

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