Yes, I can, thank you.
Thank you very much for allowing me to join you today.
I was invited to this panel just late yesterday afternoon. I apologize; I haven't had a chance to prepare a formal presentation. But I want to share with you and the group there today some anecdotal evidence of some recent developments in our company.
Fission Energy Corporation is a junior mining exploration company based in Canada that is involved in the development of uranium resources and mining development in the Athabasca basin of northern Saskatchewan. Some of you may be aware that this area is the most prolific producing area in the world for uranium.
I recently returned from South Korea, about 11 days ago, after experiencing a very positive reception from a group of companies that have come together in a consortium. That group has been led by a company called Korea Electric Power Corporation. The consortium of companies has recently committed to an earn-in agreement with our company to spend $15 million over the next three years to earn 50% of our project in the Athabasca basin.
The reason I think it's important to share this story is that we are a small company and we depend upon risk capital. While there is evidence that there are flows going outside the country, I want to share with you that there are flows coming in for companies like ours that depend upon risk capital.
To have one of the largest utility companies in the world, like Korea Electric Power Corporation, make an investment of this type is unique. It also opens the door for them and other companies of the same nature to come in and look at additional investments in Canadian mining companies like ours. We are certainly predisposed to and optimistic about the relationships we can build with additional Korean companies, such as KEPCO and its partners.
I think it's important to share, from the small company perspective, that in Canada many new jobs are created by small companies. Our company right now probably has about 15 employees. We can double or triple that over the next two years because of the investments coming in from the Korean companies that are interested in securing the potential for future sources of uranium to fuel their power plants.
This will help develop some of the northern, remote areas of the country that require capital that would not necessarily be forthcoming from traditional sources, such as banks or other more conservative sources here in Canada. We're very welcoming of the opportunity to have international companies, and certainly the Korean companies, come in and help us develop these projects. Opening markets for us would be very beneficial. We certainly are benefiting from the additional risk capital that we see coming in from South Korea.
International groups continue to recognize the large commodity base here in Canada, and companies like KEPCO are leading the way in helping companies like ours develop these early stage projects. Hopefully this can result in the development and discovery of new mines, which will create jobs and increase the tax base, particularly in areas such as the remote areas I talked about. Other companies are following KEPCO to look at ways to deploy risk capital here in Canada. We're hoping that we can garner more of that access to capital.
Fission welcomes further cooperation with Korean companies and the support of free trade. We've been very pleased to date with the experience. It has been a very short one, but we think it will grow significantly over the coming years. From the point of view of small business Canada, we would look to see, hopefully, more developments of this kind.
Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you today.