Top uranium miner Kazatomprom subsidiary Ulba Metallurgical Plant (UMP) has received a licence to explore for rare metals, including tantalum, niobium and beryllium, at the Verkhny Irgiz deposit in Aktobe, Kazakhstan.
The company notes that UMP is a unique enterprise in Kazakhstan and one of the world's recognised producers of uranium, beryllium, tantalum and niobium products.
The plant is the only one in the Commonwealth of Independent States and one of the biggest enterprises in the world with a full production cycle from processing tantalum, niobium and beryllium to the production of high–quality finished products.