Mongolia said on Friday it had reached a preliminary agreement with France’s Orano Mining Group to develop a long-anticipated uranium mining project worth $1.6 billion.

A draft agreement for the deal was submitted to the Mongolian parliament for preliminary discussion, the Mongolian government said.

The project, with an initial investment of $500 million and a total investment of $1.6 billion, will start its preparatory phase from 2024 to 2027, while first production is expected in 2028, the government said.

Peak production will hit 2.6 million metric tons in 2044, it added.

“This agreement is a significant step forward in boosting inward investment and employment opportunities for the Mongolian people,” the statement cited Mongolian Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai as saying.

The government had said earlier that it reached a final agreement with Orano, but retracted the statement, saying it had reached a preliminary deal.

Orano, a major uranium producer with mines in Canada, Kazakhstan and Niger, has been in Mongolia for more than 25 years carrying out exploration activities, it said on its website.