The Minister of Mines, Mrs. Ousseini Hadizatou Yacouba chaired this Thursday, May 4, 2023 in Niamey, the signing ceremony of a Global Partnership Agreement between the Government and the French Group ORANO Mining (formerly Areva). This Agreement provides for the extension of SOMAÏR’s activity until 2040, as well as the reconfiguration of the IMOURAREN project with a view to finding an economic balance, while significantly reducing its environmental footprint. Similarly, the Document provides priority areas for community investments such as education and skills development with funding of more than 26 billion FCFA, among others. The ceremony took place in the presence of the Minister of Finance, the Managing Director of Orano Mining, executives from the Ministry of Mines and several other personalities.

In her speech dedicated to the ceremony, the Minister of Mines recalled that this Agreement is the result of a long process initiated since 2017 and which accelerated in 2021 with two (2) major initiatives, in particular the holding of a large meeting in Paris and an assiduous committee having worked for the elaboration of the document. “We are signing an agreement today, but we are continuing a partnership that started a long time ago,” said Ms. Ousseini Hadizatou Yacouba. Indeed, according to the Minister of Mines, the AREVA Group, which has now become ORANO Mining, is Niger’s leading partner in the mining and especially uranium sector. And, “even if within the framework of the Renaissance Program, we are committed to the diversification of ores, in the diversification of partners, we retain that uranium production always retains the first rank, we retain that cooperation with our partner ORANO is always at the forefront,” she noted. Also, the Minister of Mines underlined that the discussions with ORANO Mining made it possible to see how the exploitation might last as long as possible with new permits, new means, to reduce the charges and see how the duration of the mine might be extended.
For his part, the Managing Director of ORANO Mining, Mr. Nicolas Maes, indicated that the length of the discussions which led to this Agreement, testifies to their depth. Thus, they allowed the two (2) parties to better understand the constraints of each and the pooling of their contributions. “They forced us to understand how we can better collaborate in a common vision,” announced Mr. Nicolas Maes.
Also, ‹‹ this agreement materializes Orano’s dual industrial and societal commitment in Niger and enshrines the principle of State support for this continuity, in compliance with regulations and legislation, with the aim of guaranteeing this continuity of operation in northern Niger ››, explained the Managing Director of ORANO Mining. According to Mr. Nicolas Maes, the Nigerien Government and ORANO Mining are committed to collaborating in order to allow SOMAÏR to last, to exploit the full potential of the deposits and to make this mine last for as many years as possible.
Moreover, according to the Agreement, IMOURAREN is now a research company to build a new feasibility study. To this end, the Minister of Mines explained that by law, we generally give ourselves a maximum period of ten (10) years to seek and see how to exploit what we have in IMOURAREN.
It should be noted that at the end of the signing ceremony, Ms. Ousseini Hadizatou Yacouba hosted a press briefing to fully explain the different aspects of this new partnership agreement between the State of Niger and ORANO Mining. Thus, it emerges from this press briefing that ORANO Mining has defined a framework for the rehabilitation of the Cominak site and its financing, in order to reduce the damage that has been caused to the environment. The new Agreement also makes it possible to update the provisions applicable to the Arlit concession, among others.

BHL