Niger’s military government is disputing a decision by French nuclear fuel firm Orano to cease uranium production at the Somair uranium mine, according to a document from a state partner in the venture seen Friday by Agence France-Presse. Orano announced in October that it was stopping production in face of increasingly difficult operating conditions and financial issues.
Nigerien state company Sopamin a shareholder with Orano in Somair, says it was not consulted. “Despite its status as a co-shareholder, Sopamin was not consulted on this serious decision” to halt production, the company, which has operated for half a century in the country’s north,” it said in the document. Sopamin complained that the decision “lacks transparency” and “violates a number of principles and practices essential to governance and commitments between stakeholders”.
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.
Niger stated in the document that it wished to “purchase 210 tonnes of uranium through the natural channel of Sopamin,” which it said would “allow Somair to continue its activities”.
