Litigation is company’s ‘last possible recourse’
French nuclear fuel cycle company Orano is lodging a second arbitration procedure against Niger following the loss of operational control of the Somair uranium mine.
Orano said it has filed its request for arbitration with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.
“This litigation is now Orano’s last possible recourse, after several attempts at amicable resolution have gone unanswered,” Orano said in a statement on 21 January.
Orano said the West African country’s obstruction of the commercialisation of production, and the suppression of Orano's offtake rights, have “only aggravated Somair’s financial situation and the prejudice suffered by Orano”.
Orano announced in October it would be halting its uranium production in Niger, citing a “highly deteriorated” situation and its inability to operate.
Earlier this year, Orano said a July 2023 coup in Niger led to a halt in imports of critical materials necessary for uranium exploitation at Somair, such as soda ash, carbonate, nitrates and sulphur.
According to Orano, Somair is the only uranium mine in commercial operation in Niger.
Orano said in December it had begun arbitration proceedings against Niger after its licence to operate at the Imouraren uranium deposit was withdrawn in June.
The Nigerien government, whose leader Abdourahamane Tiani seized power in the coup, had previously made clear it would overhaul rules regulating the mining of raw materials by foreign companies.
The nation’s military rulers have turned their backs on Paris, Niger’s former colonial ruler, ordering French troops deployed there to leave and instead forging ties with fellow juntas in Burkina Faso and Mali – as well as Iran and Russia.
