{"id":201512,"date":"2025-06-21T03:21:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-21T03:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/201512\/"},"modified":"2025-06-21T03:21:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-21T03:21:09","slug":"niger-to-nationalise-uranium-mine-operated-by-french-state-affiliated-firm-mining-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/201512\/","title":{"rendered":"Niger to nationalise uranium mine operated by French state-affiliated firm | Mining News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"article__subhead\">Niger\u2019s nationalisation of Somair mine operated by Orano comes as it moves away from France and seeks closer ties with Russia.<\/p>\n<p>Niger plans to nationalise a uranium mine operated by French nuclear firm <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2024\/6\/21\/niger-revokes-french-nuclear-groups-licence-at-major-uranium-mine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Orano<\/a> as it continues to pivot away from former colonial ruler, France.<\/p>\n<p>The company, which is 90 percent owned by the French state, said on Friday that Niger\u2019s military rulers\u2019 planned nationalisation of the Somair mine was part of a \u201csystematic policy of stripping mining assets\u201d, threatening to take legal action over the move.<\/p>\n<p>The military government \u2013 which came to power in a 2023 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2024\/7\/26\/a-year-after-nigers-coup-split-political-loyalties-test-family-ties\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">coup,<\/a> pledging to review mining concessions \u2013 had said a day prior that it intended to take control of the Somair mine, accusing Orano of taking a disproportionate share of uranium produced at the site.<\/p>\n<p>Orano holds a 63 percent stake in Somair, while\u00a0Niger\u2019s state-owned Sopamin owns the remainder, but the government said that Orano had taken 86.3 percent of production between the mine\u2019s launch in 1971 and 2024.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFaced with the irresponsible, illegal, and unfair behaviour by Orano, a company owned by the French state, a state openly hostile toward Niger since July 26, 2023 \u2026 the government of Niger has decided, in full sovereignty, to nationalise Somair,\u201d the authorities said on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Wave of nationalisations<\/p>\n<p>Niger\u2019s military leaders have turned their back on France since taking power, seeking closer ties with Russia instead.<\/p>\n<p>In 2024, Niger removed Orano\u2019s operational control of its three main mines in the country: Somair, Cominak and Imouraren, which has one of the largest uranium deposits in the world.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, Orano said it intended \u201cto claim compensation for all of its damages and assert its rights over the stock corresponding to Somair\u2019s production to date\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Orano, which has been operating in Niger for 50 years, is involved in several arbitration processes with the country.<\/p>\n<p>Last month, it sued the Nigerien authorities after the disappearance of its director and the raiding of its local offices.<\/p>\n<p>Niger\u2019s decision to nationalise Somair comes amid a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2024\/7\/6\/niger-mali-and-burkina-faso-military-leaders-sign-new-pact-rebuff-ecowas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wave<\/a> of mine nationalisations across West Africa, notably in Mali and Burkina Faso, both of which are governed by military governments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Niger\u2019s nationalisation of Somair mine operated by Orano comes as it moves away from France and seeks closer&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201513,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2740,2000,299,36,3933,12,2744],"class_list":{"0":"post-201512","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-africa","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-france","12":"tag-mining","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-niger"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114719207081241091","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}