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Orano’s COMINAK uranium mine in Niger set for closure

The COMINAK uranium mine in Arlit (northern Niger) is scheduled to shut down on 31 March 2021, after its resources were depleted. The site's redevelopment and environmental monitoring is expected to continue for at least two decades. COMINAK (Compagnie Minière d’Akouta) is 34% owned by France’s Orano (formerly Areva), 31% by the Nigerien state-owned mining company Sopamin, 25% by Japan’s Overseas Uranium Resources Development (OURD), and 10% by Enusa (Spain). The COMINAK mine has produced 80,000 tons of uranium in 40 years of operation.

Orano also owns a 63.4% stake in SOMAÏR (Société des Mines de l’Aïr) in partnership with Sopamin (36.6%). In 2019, Orano extracted 2,982 tons of uranium in Niger. A third uranium mine is controlled by Somina (Société des Mines d'Azelik), a consortium between China National Nuclear Corporation (37.2%), Sopamin (33%), ZXJOY Invest (24.8%) and Korea Resources Corporation (5%).

Since 2012, Niger’s uranium production declined by an average of 6%/year to 2,983 tons in 2019. The development of the Imouraren uranium mine, which is estimated to hold one of the largest uranium reserves in the world, was awarded to Orano in 2009 (66.65% Orano, 33.35% Sopamin and State of Niger) but was suspended in 2015 pending more favourable market conditions.