Laramide Resources Ltd., a Canada-based uranium producer, has announced that it is withdrawing from its uranium project in Kazakhstan due to legislative amendments adopted at the end of 2025. Under the new rules, foreign investors have fewer rights, with priority given to the national uranium company Kazatomprom.
«Laramide to abandon Kazakhstan greenfield uranium effort due to newly enacted government policy changes. Laramide has elected to terminate its Option Agreement with Aral Resources for the Chu-Sarysu Project in Kazakhstan, effective immediately,» the company said in a statement on Jan. 20.
On Dec. 26, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev formalized a series of amendments to the country’s subsoil use legislation. Laramide claims that the collective effect of these amendments significantly reduces the potential participation and economic attractiveness of any new uranium discoveries in Kazakhstan for international investors.
Under the amended legislation, Kazatomprom will receive a 90% stake in any uranium project upon renewal of mining contracts, regardless of the stake previously held by foreign partners.
Laramide is engaged in the exploration and development of uranium deposits in the U.S. state of New Mexico and in Queensland, Australia, the country that holds the world’s largest uranium reserves, while Kazakhstan has the second-largest.
In September 2024, the company signed an option agreement with Aral Resources, giving it the right to acquire 22 subsoil use licenses in the Chu-Sarysu Basin, described as «one of the globe’s foremost greenfield exploration opportunities for uranium discovery.»
According to the company, it funded and conducted historical data reviews, ground reconnaissance and geophysical surveys last year, identifying potential drill targets for uranium mineralization. Laramide submitted the required plans to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Industry and Construction to obtain permits for drilling activities, but was unable to begin work on schedule due to delays in receiving the necessary approvals.
Citing Kazatomprom, Laramide President and CEO Marc Henderson said that, based on publicly available data, the company’s resource base is expected to decline in the coming decades, with complete exhaustion projected by 2057.
