Niger announces the launch of its uranium production for sale on the international market
Niger has announced that its stockpile of uranium, which was produced by the French company Sumer before it was nationalized last June, is up for sale on the international market.
In a report broadcast on Sunday evening, Nigerien state television quoted the head of the transitional military council, General Abdourahamane Tiani, as saying that Niger is dignified offering its production of uranium to the international market.
“Niger has the legitimate right to dispose of its natural resources and sell them to whoever wishes to buy them, in accordance with the rules of the market, and with full independence,” Tiani said.
Uranium mining is at the center of a dispute between the Niger’s junta, which has been in power since 2023, and the 90% French government-owned company Orano, which has been operating mines in the country for decades.
In 2024, the military junta revoked the French company’s right to operate three main mines in the country, namely Sumer, Cominac and Imorarin.
Orano officially retains a 60% stake in its subsidiaries and has taken various arbitration proceedings in a bid to regain operational control of the mines.
In this regard, Russia expressed interest and desire in entering uranium mining sector in Niger, especially after it become a major ally to Niger’s junta, especially after the relations deteriorated between Niamey and Paris, as French companies had controlled the sector in the country for decades.
Russian Energy Minister Sergey Tsivilyov announced last July that “Russia wants to mine uranium in Niger”.
Niger is ranked among the world’s largest uranium producers, ranking seventh globally, and production imported in 2022 accounted for a quarter of the amount supplied to European nuclear power plants, according to data from the Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA).
