One year and four months after the junta took power in Niger, the presence of Orano (formerly Areva) in the country is becoming even more complicated. In a press release, published on Wednesday December 4, the company majority owned by the French State “notes the loss of operational control” of the Société des mines de l'Aïr (Somaïr), a joint venture of which it is still the main shareholder (at 63.4%) and of which the Nigerien State holds the remainder.
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Orano thus loses control over its only uranium mine – the fuel allowing nuclear power plants to operate – currently operational in Niger, in Arlit. Through another subsidiary, the French company has already closed, in 2021, a first mine in the country, that of Akouta.
Created in 1968, Somaïr employs nearly 750 employees and an equivalent number of subcontractors. Orano says it suffers “interference” in corporate governance, affirming that “the decisions taken during the company's board of directors are no longer applied”. “Uranium is on our soil, and Orano accuses us of interference?, responds an advisor to the Nigerien government, questioned by The World. Orano has been gorging on our country's natural resources for fifty years by dictating its conditions. It's over. We want to regain control of our affairs. We told the French, but they don't seem to have understood. »
According to Orano, the representatives of Niger within Somaïr confirmed “their refusal to export production” of the mine, during the board of directors meeting on Tuesday, December 3. Since the coup d'état of July 26, 2023, a stock of a thousand tons of uranium, with an estimated value of nearly 300 million euros, according to the company, has been blocked at the Arlit site. At issue: the junta's persistence in keeping its border closed with Benin – through which Orano usually exports the ore – due to a diplomatic crisis with this neighboring country.
A loss of 133 million euros
In October, the French group proposed several alternatives to the regime, including exporting uranium via Namibia. “All our proposals remained unanswered”regretted a spokesperson on October 23. A week later, Orano announced its desire to suspend production in Niger. However, activity continues on the site. However, without exports, the continuation of production “the financial situation is further deteriorating every day” of Somaïr, considers the group.
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