50 years in Niger

Immense uranium potential

The western edge of the Aïr massif in Niger is one of the largest expanses of uranium reserves in the world. Uranium is found over an area of 4,500 sq. kilometers, equivalent to half the area of the Ile-de-France region.

A sustainable partnership

AREVA is the primary shareholder in the Nigerien companies SOMAÏR and COMINAK. These companies extract uranium from deposits in the Arlit region in the northeast of the country. They each have an ore processing plant.

Since the first batch of yellowcake was produced in January 1971, the two companies have extracted over 110,000 metric tons of uranium.

Over the last decade, the group has carried out aerial geophysical prospection campaigns and, as a result, obtained permits from the Nigerien government to conduct exploration in the areas around Imouraren, Afouday, Agebout, Tagait (1, 2 and 3) and Zeline (3).

In 2010, the consolidated production of AREVA’s mining subsidiaries reached 3,176 metric tons of uranium, with total uranium production in Niger standing at 4,256 metric tons. AREVA also began preparations to exploit the Imouraren deposit. To do this, the group and its partners have created Imouraren SA, the company that will operate the mine and produce 5,000 metric tons of uranium a year for nearly 35 years. Production is expected to begin in 2014.

A win-win partnership

AREVA buys uranium mined by its Nigerien subsidiaries SOMAÏR and COMINAK. Niger is also a shareholder in these companies and receives dividends from them. Some of this uranium also goes to Nigerien authorities, which sell it on the international market.

The group pays nearly 40 million euros in taxes and makes other contributions in addition to its payroll (nearly 30 million euros a year), purchases in Niger (34.5 million euros in 2009), and investments in the tools of production (several tens of millions of euros a year). Nigeriens hold more than 99% of the jobs. The group has about 50 expatriate managers at the mines, which allows the transfer of knowledge and know-how. Nigerien upper-level managers have been trained at engineering schools in Africa, North America and France as well as at the group’s mining sites.

For several decades, the company’s subsidiaries COMINAK and SOMAÏR have organized important health and development programs (school construction, training for disadvantaged young people, local economic development) in the Arlit region.