French company Orano launches arbitration against Niger over mining license

On Friday, the French nuclear fuel company Orano opened international arbitration proceedings against Niger.

The move comes after several months of failed attempts at mediation and reconciliation after Niamey in June withdrew the license of Orano’s subsidiary Imorarin.

The mine, located in northern Niger, contains an estimated 200,000 tons of uranium, but it has not been exploited.

Mining at the site was scheduled to begin in 2015, but development was halted after global uranium prices collapsed following the 2011 Japanese nuclear disaster.

After years of delays, Niger warned that the license would expire on June 19 unless work at the site resumed.

Orano said that the withdrawal announcement came after the company presented Niger with a concrete proposal to begin exploiting the uranium stock at the site.

Earlier this month, Orano said that the authorities took control of its Sumer uranium mine, of which the French company owns 63.4 percent, and the rest belongs to Niger.

Niger’s military-led government, which seized power in a coup in July last year, has intensified its pressure on foreign investors in recent months.

It has also made no secret of its desire to reorganize the mining sector as the country transitions its relations from Western countries to new partners.

Niger produces about 4 percent of the world’s uranium production, which is the most widely used fuel in nuclear energy.