A letter of intent on the construction of a bulk sampling plant to recover uranium from waste coal ash has been signed by Sparton Resources' 60%-owned Chinese joint venture Sparton New Enviro Tech Ltd (SNET) and China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) subsidiary Fourth Institute of Nuclear Engineering (FINE). The letter of intent is worth about 40 million yuan ($5.6 million) and covers two phases. Phase I covers the final design engineering and construction of a semi-portable bulk sampling plant with a capacity of 10-15 tonnes of ash per day, which will be used to test at least 500 tonnes of uranium-bearing waste coal ash. Phase 2 will involve the final design and construction of a production plant with a capacity of 750 tonnes of ash per day. Both plants will be built on a turnkey basis by FINE. SNET is 30% owned by CNNC's Remote Sensing Branch with the Beijing John Hanseng Investment Co holding the remaining 10%. Toronto-based Sparton Resources has developed and patented its own technology for extracting uranium from coal ash.