Orano takes legal action over staff detention in Niger

The management of France’s Orano has still received no information regarding the director of Orano Mining Niger, after the Nigerien security services raided the offices of its subsidiaries Somaïr, Cominak, Imouraren and Orano Mining in Niamey earlier in May. Orano said that during the raid electronic devices and all staff cell phones were seized, and the managing directors of these subsidiaries were held and interrogated in their offices.

Subsequently, the director of Orano Mining Niger, Ibrahim Courmo, is reported to have been taken to the headquarters of the Nigerien General Directorate of External Documentation & Surveillance (DGDSE – Direction Générale de la Documentation et de la Sécurité Extérieure). “Following this arbitrary, extra-judicial arrest, it has proven impossible to establish any communication with him and the police is still preventing access to subsidiary offices at Niamey,” Orano said, adding that it “deplores this intervention, for which no legal basis nor reason has been offered”. It has therefore decided to file a suit with the Niger courts “for arbitrary arrest, illegal detention and unjust confiscation of the property of Nigerien companies, subsidiaries of Orano and the State of Niger itself”.

This is the latest in a series of developments which have impacted uranium mining projects in Niger following the military takeover in 2023. French military troops were expelled from Niger in December 2023 after which relations with France rapidly deteriorated. In March, the government also cancelled an agreement with the USA, after which American troops were withdrawn.

In January 2024, Niger temporarily suspended the granting of new mining licences and also ordered an audit of the sector. In June, France’s Orano had its permit for the Imouraren project revoked. That project, containing one of the world’s largest reserves, had its permit awarded in 2009 but it was put on hold by the company pending favourable market conditions.

In December 2024, Orano said the Nigerien authorities took operational control of the Somaïr uranium mining company in which it is the majority shareholder and operator – Orano holds 63.4% and Niger state company Sopamin 36.6%. Niger’s military government had disputed a decision by Orano in October to cease uranium production at Somaïr’s Arlit mine in face of increasingly difficult operating conditions and financial issues.

Orano initiated proceedings against Niger over the Imouraren permit in December 2024 under the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes Between States & Nationals of Other States (the ICSID Convention). It lodged a second arbitration procedure in January following its loss of operational control of Somaïr.

While Canada’s GoviEx initially faced similar tensions with the Niger government following the military takeover, the situation is now improving. In July 2024, the Nigerien authorities withdrew GoviEx Uranium’s mining rights for the Madouela uranium project, impacting development of one of the world’s largest uranium projects. In January 2025, GoviEx Uranium and GoviEx Niger Holdings initiated ICSID proceedings against Niger under the arbitration clause of the Mining Convention signed by GoviEx Niger in 2007.

However, in February GoviEx Uranium and its wholly-owned subsidiary GoviEx Niger Holdings Ltd signed a letter of intent with Niger, represented by the Minister of Mines agreeing to a structured roadmap that details a mutually acceptable plan to negotiate a resolution to the dispute regarding the Madaouela Uranium Project.

The roadmap letter formalises the recent discussions held during and subsequent to the 2025 Mining Indaba conference, in Cape Town, where both Parties engaged in constructive negotiations aimed at finding an amicable resolution. Goviex agreed to temporarily suspend the ongoing arbitration proceedings while discussions continue.

At the African Mining Indaba Conference Niger’s Mines Minister Abarchi stated that Niger welcomes and encourages investment by foreign mining companies specifically including those from Canada, the US and Australia. He specifically noted Niger’s strong support for Canada’s Global Atomic and its Dasa Project, and confirmed that the government has no intention to nationalise the Dasa Project.

Global Atomic, which is developing the high-grade uranium deposit 105km south of the established uranium mining town of Arlit, said it has been “engaged in contingency planning with parties interested in non-dilutive financing options at the operating level” from groups interested in buying uranium from the mine.

Global Atomic President & CEO Stephen Roman said April that he had held productive meetings with a number of Dasa’s key Nigerien suppliers of materials and services, “including some who have confirmed their interest in investing in the Dasa Project. We are currently progressing these discussions.” He said a US development bank had confirmed that their internal process to advance the approval of a debt facility for our Dasa project was proceeding.

Niger is the world’s seventh largest producer of uranium and has the highest-grade ores on the African continent. It accounts for 4.7% of the world’s natural uranium production. In 2022, Niger provided more than a quarter of the uranium used in the European Union, the second biggest supplier after Kazakhstan, according to Euratom. France has depended on Niger for up to 15% of its uranium needs.