The Canadian mining company GoviEx Uranium has announced that its uranium mining license for the Madaouela mining project in northern Niger has been revoked by the Nigerien authorities. In 2022, GoviEx had completed a feasibility study for the Madaouela project. The US$343m project was expected to produce 2.67 Mlb/year (1,211 t/year) of U3O8 uranium over 19 years starting in 2025. The Madaouela site has estimated uranium reserves of over 100 Mlb (45.36 kt).
In June 2024, the Nigerien authorities had also revoked the operating permit from the French company Orano for the Imouraren uranium deposit in Niger, one of the largest uranium deposits in the world with reserves estimated at 200 kt.
Niger’s recoverable reserves of uranium are the 8th largest in the world, at 518 kt in 2023. As of February 2022, Niger had provided 31 uranium exploration licences and 11 uranium mining titles in force.