Venezuela has yet to develop a plan to explore or exploit its uranium deposits despite comments by a government official saying it was working with Iran to locate them, Venezuela's energy minister told Reuters. On Friday, Mining Minister Rodolfo Sanz said Iran and Venezuela were working together to find uranium, and preliminary tests showed the South American country holds large deposits. The announcement came as U.S. President Barack Obama and the leaders of Britain and France accused Iran of building a secret nuclear plant. But Rafael Ramirez, Venezuela's top energy official, denied President Hugo Chavez is looking to exploit the radioactive material. "No plan has been determined," he said in an interview on the sidelines of a presidential summit of African and South American leaders being hosted by Chavez on Venezuela's Margarita Island. He did not offer an explanation for the contradicting information or explicitly deny that Iran had participated in flights to detect mineral reserves, including uranium. When asked about any possible Iranian involvement, Ramirez responded that Venezuela was only working with Russia to develop nuclear energy which he said would be for peaceful uses. "The only agreement we have is with a Russian company," he said. Earlier on Saturday, industry minister Jesse Chacon also sought to downplay the issue, telling reporters Venezuela was investigating its mineral deposits with a number of nations. Chavez, whose popularity is partly drawn from his brash challenges to the U.S. "empire," last year dusted off plans to build a nuclear power station after Russia said it was willing to help Venezuela acquire the technology. Venezuela largely relies on hydroelectric and oil-fired power stations to generate electricity. It is building more oil generators to meet rapidly growing demand, but would prefer to export the oil it produces. Venezuela has signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty limiting use of nuclear material and would have to follow safeguards from the United Nations watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), before any transfers of technology. In recent years, Chavez has forged close ties with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Earlier this month, he agreed to supply Iran with 20,000 barrels per day of gasoline.