Niger reveals plans to sell Somaïr uranium

Somaïr, the operator of the Arlit uranium mine, is 63.4% owned by Orano, with the Niger state-owned mining assets company SOPAMIN holding 36.6%, but has been under the operational control of the Nigerien authorities since December 2024. In June, Niger's Council of Ministers announced plans to appropriate and nationalise the joint venture.

On 27 November, the French company said that a reported shipment of uranium from the mine contravened a decision by an arbitral tribunal of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, which in September ordered the State of Niger not to sell, transfer, or facilitate the transfer of the uranium.

Orano said it had learned from media reports that a shipment of uranium had left the mining site in northern Niger.

"Orano states that it is not the initiator of this shipment and strongly condemns it.

"Having lost operational control of its Niger mines since December 2024, the group has no official information on the quantity of uranium transported, its final destination, or the conditions under which this transport was undertaken in terms of safety and security," the company said.

It added that it will "steadfastly defend its interests and reserves the right to take any additional action necessary, in particular criminal proceedings, including against third parties, in the event of preemption of the material in violation of its offtake rights".

According to press reports, Niger's military regime announced its plans to sell the uranium on state-owned Tele Sahel, citing General Abdourahamane Tiani, leader of the military junta which took power in a 2023 coup, who claimed Niger's "legitimate right to dispose of its natural riches to sell them to whoever wants to buy them".

The aftermath of the coup left Somaïr unable to export uranium from Arlit, which was the only currently operational uranium mine in Niger at the time. Operating permits for mines including GoviEx's Madouela project and Orano's Imouraren were withdrawn, although Global Atomic's development of the Dasa uranium mine has continued.

Uranium has been mined in Niger since the beginning of the 1970s.