The situation continues to deteriorate for Orano in Niger, to the point that the sustainability of the group in the African country is in question. On the evening of Wednesday October 23, the French nuclear fuel giant announced the cessation of its natural uranium extraction and refining activities in the country – brought together in its subsidiary Société des mines de l’Aïr (Somaïr ), which it holds 63.4% alongside the Nigerien State – from the end of the month! It is a symbol of the group’s descent into hell in this West African country, long a stronghold of the French group. Orano has been experiencing significant difficulties since the coup d’état by General Abdourahamane Tiani in July 2024.
“Radio silence,” by Niamey
«This is sad news, reacts an Orano spokesperson contacted by telephone. LThe site has the human resources and capacity to produce, and would function very well if the borders were open, with the possibility of importing inputs and exporting the material“. Since the coup d’état, Orano has faced various operational difficulties, concerning the supply of reagents necessary to refine uranium (which led the group to shut down the factory), but also the export of its production.
The site, which employs 700 employees and as many subcontractors, restarted at reduced speed in February 2024 and today has a stock of 1,050 tonnes of natural uranium, reveals Orano. But the raw material for nuclear reactors cannot leave the country due to the closure of the land border between Niger and Benin, from where uranium is usually exported by sea. Orano specifies that it will take charge of salaries and the maintenance of the industrial tool “until the end of the year», without commenting on the sequel.
The French group had already sounded the alert at the beginning of the summer. Without success: “lFinancial difficulties have worsened and require the suspension of site activity“, judges the group’s spokesperson, while the solution proposed by Orano of exporting uranium by plane to Namibia has apparently not convinced the junta in power, which opposes the group “radio silence“. At the beginning of the summer, the junta in power in Niamey, in diplomatic rupture with Paris and which seems to be moving closer to Russia, had already withdrawn from the French group the permits linked to the major new mine project it was carrying out in the country. Imouraren.
The cessation of extraction in Niger, the world’s seventh largest producer of uranium, does not endanger the supply of energy companies, who can obtain supplies on a diversified market and have substantial stocks. The country is, however, important in Orano’s portfolio, which produced 1,130 tonnes of natural uranium in the country in 2023 for a normal capacity of 2,000 tonnes. The same year, the group extracted a little more than 7,000 tonnes of natural uranium, notably in Kazakhstan and Canada.
Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
