Shares of Uranium One Inc. plunged 29 per cent before being halted Wednesday after Kazakhstan accused the former head of its nuclear fuel company of illegally selling deposits to foreign firms including one partly owned by the Vancouver miner.

Mukhtar Dzakishev, the long-time head of state run Kazatomprom was ousted and arrested last week. The KNB security service, Kazakhstan's successor to the KGB, alleges Mr. Dzakishev and other managers of Kazatomprom “squandered state property in the form of Kazakhstan's largest uranium fields by handing them to a number of offshore companies.”

Uranium One's stock skidded 97 cents a share to $2.32 on the Toronto Stock Exchange before it was halted at 9:45 a.m. ET. More than 10 million shares changed hands.

The company is expected to issue a news release saying its 30 per cent interest in the Kharasan deposit was purchased from a private individual and that the Kazakhstan government signed off on the deal.

In addition to Kharasan, Uranium One owns interests in two other Kazakh deposits that are operated as joint ventures with Kazatomprom.

“In light of the potential ownership uncertainty and given that virtually all of the company's assets are Kazakh-based, we are officially placing our rating and target under review until we receive more clarity on the issue and can more accurately assess the financial impact,” Canaccord Adams analyst Orest Wowkodaw told clients in a report.

Kazakhstan is home to one-fifth of the world's uranium reserves.