Niger returns Orano uranium, Mali renews Barrick licence as Sahel states adjust

Military governments in Africa’s troubled Sahel region are taking separate steps that may ease concerns over resource nationalism. Niger plans to return uranium to France’s Orano while Mali is extending Barrick Mining’s (TSX: ABX; NYSE: B) licence, according to news agency reports.

Niger’s President Abdourahamane Tiani said Friday on state television the government would return uranium produced at the Somair mine after seizing control of the operation last year, Bloomberg reported.

In a separate sign of thawing relations in the region, Mali is moving to add another decade to the licence for Barrick’s Loulo-Gounkoto complex, according to Reuters on Friday.

Juntas in the Sahael region, including neighbouring Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, have changed mining laws, ramped up government stakes and sometimes seized assets since military coups five or so years ago. The countries, some of the world’s poorest, have sought greater control of resources as they fight insurgents flush with cash from kidnappings and illegal mining.

Barrick

In Mali, Barrick reportedly paid $430 million in November to settle a tax dispute that closed its mine for most of last year and forced it to write off $1 billion in revenue.

Barrick withdrew its arbitration case at the World Bank, Mali dropped charges against the company and returned operational control of the complex to the miner.

A feasibility study supporting the licence renewal identified reserves sufficient for six more years of open-pit mining and 16 years of underground operations, with annual output around 420,920 oz. of gold.

Other Western gold producers in Mali include B2Gold (TSX: BTO; NYSE: BTG) with its Fekola mine while Resolute Mining (ASX: RSG; LSE: RSG) continues to operate Syama on track despite wider exploration permit reviews. China’s Zijin Mining is buying Allied Gold (TSX: AAUC) and its Sadiola mine.

Yellowcake

Niger is planning to hand back 95,000 tonnes of concentrated uranium, known as yellowcake to Orano. The amount represents roughly 63% of the output produced under the French state company’s oversight. The percentage equals the company’s share in the mine before Niger’s authorities assumed control of Somair in 2024 amid a broader confrontation with Western mining companies.

The junta later moved the yellowcake from the facility despite an arbitration tribunal’s directive, raising concerns about the transport of radioactive material through areas affected by armed groups, Bloomberg said.

An attack last month threatening the international airport in the capital, Niamey, was alarmingly within striking distance of an air force base where the regime was storing the yellowcake, the news agency said.

Landlocked Niger, the world’s seventh largest uranium producer, has attracted Global Atomic (TSX: GLO; US-OTC: GLATF), advancing the high-grade Dasa project, and GoviEx Uranium (TSXV: GXU; US-OTC: GVXXF) with its Madaouela project.