Orano says financial difficulties of the Niger mining company Somair have continued to grow since the announcements made in July forcing its closure at the end of October. Somair is a 63.4% subsidiary of the Orano group, which operates the Arlit uranium mine in Niger.
Orano has been operating in Niger for over 50 years, developing deposits in the northwest. It owns controlling stakes in the operations companies of the Somair and Cominak mines, as well as the Imouren project, which has been suspended since 2015.
Niger is the world’s seventh largest producer of uranium and has the highest-grade ores on the African continent. It accounts for 4.7% of the world’s natural uranium production. In 2022, Niger provided more than a quarter of the uranium used in the European Union, the second biggest supplier after Kazakhstan, according to Euratom. France has depended on Niger for up to 15% of its uranium needs.
In the summer of 2023, a coup d’etat took place in Niger overthrowing President Mohamed Bazum. The military government said it would review foreign mining concessions and in January temporarily suspended the granting of new mining licences, ordering an audit of the sector. In March, the government cancelled an agreement with the USA, after which American troops were withdrawn.
Relations with France steadily deteriorated after the last French military troops deployed in Niger were expelled in December 2023. In June, the government withdrew Orano’s operating licence to exploit the Imouraren uranium mine.
Orano said that, since the events of July 2023, and the closure of the main supply and export corridor, Orano and Somair “have made every effort to maintain dialogue with the Nigerien authorities”. Meanwhile they have implemented offsetting measures “to ensure the maintenance of industrial facilities and equipment, and maintain full employment and compensation for all employees, while waiting for production to resume at full capacity”.
However, despite efforts to find alternative possibilities to export the uranium produced by Somair and to relaunch commercial activities, Orano said all proposals made to the Nigerien authorities “have remained unanswered”.
Orano also said that Sopamin, the shareholder representing the State of Niger with a 36.6% stake in Somair, had not paid any of its debts to the mining company for the past 15 months. It added that it “deeply deplores the negative impact of Somair’s worsening situation on its employees and subcontractors and is concerned about the damaging repercussions it might have on the region’s economic, social and societal development.”
Orano’s decision followed border closures between Niger and Benin, which left 1,050 tonnes of uranium concentrate from the 2023 and 2024 stockpiles stranded. Orano estimates the value of the blocked uranium at €300m ($324m), representing almost half of the site’s average annual production. Orano said it had considered various options to no avail, including airlifting uranium through Namibia.
In September, Niger’s Council of Ministers announced the creation of the state-run Timersoi National Uranium Company (TNUC) but gave no further details.
