The French setback in Niger
Uranium mining in France ended in 2001, making us dependent on foreign imports to keep the nuclear network functioning. Last week, Niger, one of our first suppliers, announced that it was withdrawing from Orano, formerly Areva, its operating license for the Imouraren deposit. A strategic shortfall when the deposit was considered the most important in Africa and France had access to it since 2009. Didier Julienne, president of Commodities and Resources, a strategic metals consulting company, recalls that the mine “ was to open in 2012 but world uranium prices never made its exploitation profitable. Although it is an important deposit, the mine is very poor because the ore is not very concentrated. Exploiting it required a very significant technological and financial investment. »
LSD, The documentary series Listen later
Lecture listen 54 min
An effective French strategy?
Also, the exploitation of the mine will certainly be attributed to another power. For Didier Juliennethis decision illustrates a “ loss of influence of France in Africa “, strategic resources such as uranium are at the heart of broader geopolitical dynamics. Despite this setback, our guest is not worried about the security of French supplies. Niger only represents 4% of global production and ” the strategy developed by EDF, which procures supplies for the power plants it manages, is extremely diversified, he assures. Our country has stocks that allow it to anticipate production disruptions, and we have identified possible future sources of the ore. EDF today has contracts with mining companies in Kazakhstan – which alone provides 43% of world uranium production – in Canada, and even in Australia. »
