In a context of tensions with the junta in power in this Sahelian country, the French company specializing in uranium announced on Friday November 15 to suspend its “expenses linked to extraction activities” in order to prioritize “payment of salaries”.
The French uranium specialist Orano has already been on better terms with its Nigerien partners. The board of directors of Somaïr, a company 64.3% owned by Orano and 36.6% by Niger, announced this Friday, November 15, that it had voted “the temporary suspension of expenses linked to ore extraction and processing activities” in the Sahelian state. This decision, ratified on Tuesday, will remain in force until “the effective resumption of the export and marketing of its production”.
Orano justified its decision 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”. At the end of October, the French company decided to suspend its production in Niger due to “the worsening of Somaïr’s financial difficulties”.
Difficulties particularly linked to the fact that the junta withdrew from Orano a permit to exploit one of the largest uranium deposits in the world last June: Imouraen. The export of this material has also become impossible, because the border between Niger and Benin is closed for security reasons, according to Niamey. 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. This represents approximately “300 million euros”depending on the group.
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. The Sahelian state has also invited Russian companies interested in the exploitation of its natural resources to visit the site, while Colonel Ousmane Abarchi, Minister of Mines in Niger, declared that they had “already met” these companies.
