[Africa News, 16 February] The Zambian government will grant two uranium mining licences before the end of the first quarter of 2009, according to Boniface Nkhata, deputy minister of mines and minerals development. The licences will be the first to be issued since the realignment of the country's mines and minerals act. According to Nkhata, uranium mining permits will be granted to two of the four mining companies that have applied under the recently established legislation. Two projects to develop Zambian uranium ventures - the Chirundu Uranium Project and an already approved uranium processing facility at the Lumwana copper mine - have recently been put on hold by the companies involved, citing the current world economic situation.