In Niger, the French Orano suspends the uranium production of its subsidiary

Faced with a situation “strongly degraded”the Niger subsidiary of the French uranium specialist Orano will “suspend” its production from October 31, due to lack of power “continue working” in this country ruled by a military regime for fifteen months. “The worsening financial difficulties of Somaïr constrain this company”located in the Arlit region in northern Niger, “to suspend its activities”announced Wednesday October 23 to Agence France-Presse (AFP) the spokesperson for Orano in Paris.

The Nigerien government, resulting from a coup d'état carried out in July 2023, has repeatedly repeated its desire to fundamentally review the system of exploitation of raw materials on their soil by foreign companies. While getting closer to new partners like Russia and Iran, they broke with Paris by obtaining in particular the departure of the French military and the ambassador, and made sovereignty one of their mantras.

According to Orano, the production of uranium concentrate from the site will be “stopped from October 31”for lack of being able to export this raw material. “Despite all the efforts made” with the military regime “to try to resolve the situation” and obtain export authorizations, “all our proposals remained unanswered”explained the spokesperson for the group, a French specialist in nuclear fuel.

Creation of a Nigerien state company

“The borders are still closed” with Benin, “it is therefore impossible to export”she said, stressing that other proposals to export by air via Namibia were also “remained without follow-up”. Beyond October 31, “maintenance will continue, but there will be no more production”she added. As of Wednesday evening, the Nigerien authorities had not communicated on this subject.

In June, Niger withdrew from Orano the exploitation permit for one of the largest deposits in the world, that of Imouraren, with reserves estimated at 200,000 tonnes. Very recently, on September 19, the Council of Ministers of Niger adopted a draft decree creating a state company called Timersoi National Uranium Company (TNUC), without any details.

Orano has been mining uranium in northern Niger since 1971. Only the Somaïr site was still active, since the closure of the Akokan Mines Company (Cominak) in 2021. The French uranium cycle specialist owns 63.4% of Somaïr, the rest held by Sopamin, a state company in Niger. Their representatives were absent on Wednesday from a “extraordinary board of directors dedicated to the situation of Somaïr”.

The Somaïr site employs some “780 employees and as many subcontractors”, “99% Nigeriens”which will continue to be “paid until December 31, 2024”Orano said on Wednesday. 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.

“Renegotiate a new agreement”

“We agree that Orano leaves” the country “but under many conditions”the president of the Agadez civil society coordination (Cresca), Amobi Arandishu, told AFP. In particular, he expects the “site redevelopment” like that of Cominak, the “fight against groundwater pollution”the “reintegration of former workers” and worries about “tons of radioactive waste”.

“Niger and Orano must take advantage of this situation to renegotiate a new agreement which would allow each party to participate in the exploitation of uranium”estimates Ali Idrissa, executive secretary of the Network of Organizations for Transparency and Budgetary Analysis (Rotab), a Nigerien NGO.

The suspension of the activity of Somaïr “will be acted upon at the end of an extraordinary board of directors meeting to be held in a few days”according to Orano. The group has already finished the first half of 2024 in the red with a loss of 133 million euros, weighed down by the difficulties of its mining activities in Niger.

According to Orano, customer supply “remains assured thanks to the diversity of its sources of supply”particularly in Canada and Kazakhstan. Niger supplies 4.7% of global natural uranium production, far behind Kazakhstan (45.2%), according to 2021 figures from the Euratom supply agency (ESA).