NIAMEY, June 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Niger’s military government has revoked the operating licence of French nuclear fuel producer Orano at one of the world’s biggest uranium mines, as it continues to cut ties with former colonial power France.
State-owned Orano said that it had been ordered out of the Imouraren mine in northern Niger which sits on an estimated 200,000 tonnes of the metal, used for nuclear power and weapons.
The Nigerien Ministry of Mining had warned it would revoke Orano’s licence if the development of the mine had not started by June 19.
Orano insisted in a statement that it had recently resumed “activities” at the site, reopening “infrastructures” to accommodate “construction teams”, its work in line with the wishes of the government, which came to power in a coup in July last year.
Mining was meant to have started at Imouraren in 2015 but development was frozen after the collapse in world uranium prices in the wake of the 2011 Japanese disaster when a tsunami hit the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in the northeast of the country.
The Nigerien government’s decision to revoke Orano’s licence may have wider geopolitical stakes. It is noted that relations between Niger and its former colonial ruler took a “nosedive” after last year’s coup.
“The Nigerien government ordered the French ambassador to leave, followed by the eviction of several hundreds of French soldiers based in Niger and the shutting down of all French bases in Niger.”
The government, which has increasingly turned to Russia and Iran for support, pledged to review foreign mining concessions in the country after it took power in July last year.
Orano has been present in Niger since 1971. A uranium mine at Arkokan has been closed since 2021 but Orano runs another uranium mine in the northern region of Arlit despite what it terms “logistical” difficulties.
Niger, which accounts for about a quarter of the natural uranium supplied to Europe, is landlocked and its border with Benin, its main sea access, is closed, hindering exports of its minerals. The government says this is for “security” reasons.
Orano said it was “prepared to keep open all channels of communication with the Niger authorities on this subject while reserving the right to contest the decision to withdraw the mining licence in the national or international courts”.
The Niger government did not immediately comment. — NNN-AGENCIES
