Uranium dreams

The promise of clean nuclear power brings the West to Mongolia

- Charlie Campbell

AERIAL VIEW OF THE ZUUVCH-OVOO URANIUM MINE PILOT FACILITY IN MONGOLIA'S GOBI DESERT

THE GOBI DESERT, ONCE REVERED BY MONGOlian poet Dulduityn Danzanravjaa as hiding a cosmic portal to the heavenly kingdom of Shambala, was transformed in the 20th century from spiritual energy center to fossil-fuel hub. Wild rabbits and donkeys share the windswept dunes with rusting oil pumps, while an endless caravan of soot-stained trucks haul coal south to the border with China. Now, the Gobi is on the cusp of another reincarnation, one that its supporters believe could help future-proof the global energy landscape.

In October, the French state-owned nuclear firm Orano signed a $1.7 billion deal to extract and process uranium from the Zuuvch-Ovoo mine, not two hours by car from the landmarked site of Danzanravjaa's cosmic portal. 

Mongolia's first uranium mine is expected to produce about 2,750 tons annually for three decades, some 4% of global production; it's currently one of the top 10 unexploited deposits worldwide.

"This deposit is far from the only one," says Olivier Thoumyre, a senior vice president for Orano. "There is huge potential in Mongolia... to enter the uranium market at the right time, because we know needs are going to increase." Mongolia boasts the world's second-largest uranium reserves, which promise to catapult this landlocked nation of 3.5 million into position as a key player in the global renewable-energy transition.