Niger’s junta has temporarily suspended the granting of new mining licences and ordered an audit of the sector, reported Reuters.
The West African nation has the continent’s highest-grade uranium ores and is the world’s seventh-biggest producer of uranium, noted the news agency.
France’s state-owned Orano operates the SOMAÏR open-pit uranium mine in northern-central Niger. Those operations have continued despite a military coup in July 2023.
Several artisanal gold mines also operate in the country. Ghana’s Nguvu Mining owns the only commercial gold mine, Samira Hill, located 40 kilometers west-southwest from Niamey in the Tillabery region.
Source: Reuters