KEPCO signs uranium development deal with U.S. miner

SEOUL, May 14 (Reuters) - Korea Electric Power Corp (015760.KS) (KEPCO) said on Wednesday it had signed a cooperation agreement with U.S. Yellowcake Mining Corp to develop a uranium mine in Colorado.

Under the deal, KEPCO plans to secure a 50 percent stake in the Beck mine owned by Yellowcake Mining Corp, which has proven reserves of 5,000 tonnes of uranium and estimated reserves of 10,000 tonnes.

Over the weekend, a state-run nuclear company owned by KEPCO also signed a contract to secure 2,600 tonnes of uranium from Uzbekistan between 2010 and 2016, valued at about $400 million. [ID:nSEO214113]

The Uzbekistan deal was signed during South Korean Prime Minister Han Seung-soo's visit to central Asia this week and will diversify the country's uranium import sources to six countries, including Australia, Canada and Kazakhstan.

Resource-poor South Korea, which relies on a stable supply of raw materials to feed its export-driven economy, is keen to develop uranium mines around the world in the face of soaring global prices.

Uranium is used to fuel most of the world's nuclear reactors. Higher oil prices and international attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have boosted the appeal of nuclear energy. (Reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Keiron Henderson and Jonathan Hopfner)