* Paladin seeking joint venture on Oobagooma, other projects
* China's Guangdong Nuclear among potential partners
* Paladin hopes deal will be done in next 18 months (Adds details, executive and analyst quotes)
By Joseph Chaney, Asia Resources Correspondent
HONG KONG, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Australian uranium miner Paladin Energy, which has operations in its home country and Africa, is in talks with Chinese companies to strike a joint venture deal worth up to $450 million, its CEO told Reuters on Wednesday.
Paladin has spoken to Guangdong Nuclear Power and other Chinese companies about a possible partnership in one of Paladin's development projects in Western Australia, Managing Director and CEO John Borshoff said.
Borshoff's statements came after Reuters called the company to inquire about speculation surrounding Chinese interest.
The miner, which has a market capitalisation of roughly $2.4 billion, is talking to many parties, and may also be interested in partnerships with Korean and Japanese companies, Borshoff said.
"The Chinese we've only recently engaged -- we understand that the big growths are out of China," Borshoff said.
"It'd be joint ventures in new projects under development. There's some in Australia that we have and we hope to acquire a few more," he said, adding that Paladin's Oobagooma and Manyingee projects in Western Australia are among those that are being considered for joint ventures.
Borshoff said it was unlikely that Paladin would set up joint ventures at its Langer Heinrich project in Namibia, or the Kayelekera project in northern Malawi, dispelling market rumours that a deal involving those projects could be in the works.
"They are already operational and they signify our brand -- they are Paladin," he said.
"We'd like to have some projects that are 100 percent Paladin, some that are in joint venture that are 70 percent Paladin, and so on and so forth."
CHINA IN NEED
Earlier this year China made it clear it is interested in buying overseas nuclear-related assets.
Wilson Feng, a former senior banker for Merrill Lynch, has been picked to run the country's newly established $1.46 billion China Nuclear Power and New Energy Industry Investment Fund, two sources briefed on Feng's new job told Reuters in July.
China is keen to build more nuclear power stations and some existing nuclear power plants also need capital to expand.
China has around 9.1 gigawatts (GW) of installed nuclear capacity but it is considering revising its 2020 target to over 80 GW from an original plan of 40 GW to increase clean energy supplies, state media reported.
"We've always suspected Paladin has been on the menu as far as M&A goes," said James Wilson, an analyst at DJ Carmichael.
"Like (China's) been doing with iron ore and coal, they need to supply their long-term aspirations and it's not a surprise," he added.
GROWTH ERA
Australian uranium companies such as Paladin are set for a new era of growth as a deficit builds up in the global uranium market, Citigroup analysts said in a report last month.
Citi expects the spot price for uranium oxide, or yellowcake, to edge up to $60 a pound (lb) in 2010/11 from a current spot price of $47/lb although the price could move higher if there were further supply disruptions.
Companies such as BHP Billiton, the owner of the Olympic Dam project that contains about one-third of the world's known uranium, are already formulating expansion plans.
Paladin aims to ink a joint venture deal over the next 18 months, Borshoff said, adding that he does not expect regulatory problems in Australia.
"A joint venture association, 30 percent position or whatever it might be, why should that be denied?," said Borshoff. "In the junior uranium explorers, there's already joint ventures in existence." (Editing by Rupert Winchester)