The French uranium specialist Orano declared on Friday to suspend the “expenses related to extraction activities” of its subsidiary in Niger in order to prioritize “payment of wages”, in a context of tensions with the junta in power in this Sahelian country.
The board of directors of Somaïr (the Société des mines de l’Aïr, 64.3% owned by Orano and 36.6% by the State of Niger) meeting on November 12 voted “the temporary suspension of expenses linked to ore extraction and processing activities, until the effective resumption of the export and marketing of its production”, AFP learned in a press release.
At the end of October, Orano announced the suspension of its production in Niger due to “the worsening of Somaïr’s financial difficulties”linked in particular to the withdrawal by the junta in June of a permit to exploit one of the largest uranium deposits in the world, Imouraren, and to the impossibility of exporting this raw material, the border of Niger with Benin is closed for security reasons, according to Niamey.
A week later, the military regime that came to power through a coup in July 2023 contested Orano’s decision to suspend production, claiming not to have been consulted.
In total, 1,050 tonnes of uranium concentrate from 2023 and 2024 stocks, or almost half of the site’s average annual production, are currently blocked, with an estimated market value of “300 million euros”according to the group whose capital is 90% owned by the French State.
Orano justified its decision to suspend Somaïr extraction expenditure by explaining that it wanted “direct the remaining available cash towards maintaining the payment of salaries and vital functions of the industrial site for as long as possible”.
The French group also deplored that representatives of Sopamin, the Nigerien state company, “left the council room at the time of the vote, choosing to abstain.”
The Nigerien government has repeatedly repeated its desire to thoroughly review the system of exploitation of raw materials on its soil by foreign companies. It is also turning to new partners such as Russia or Iran.
“We have already met Russian companies who are interested in coming to explore and exploit natural resources in Niger”declared Colonel Ousmane Abarchi, the Nigerien Minister of Mines who was participating in the Russia-Africa summit in Sochi, mid-week.
© With AFP
