Niger awards Arlit uranium mining permit to state-owned company

The Council of Ministers adopted the draft decree awarding "a Permit for Large Uranium Mining located in the Commune of Arlit, Department of Arlit, Region of Agadez" to the Teloua Safeguarding Uranium Mining Company (TSUMCO SA) at a meeting on 21 August. 

SOMAÏR - for Société des Mines de l'Aïr - was established in 1968 and was 63.4% owned by Orano and 36.6% owned by Niger state mining assets company Sopamin, and was the operator of the Arlit mine. Niger revoked Orano's mining permits following a military coup in July 2023. Orano announced in December 2024 that it had lost operational control of its Niger mines and in June 2025 SOMAÏR was nationalised. 

TSUMCO was set up by a Council of Ministers decree in May, at the same time that it announced the cancellation of the Arlit concession, granted to the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) in 1968. The name "Teloua" refers to the underground aquifer on which the facilities of the COMINAK mine were operated by Orano and its predecessor company Areva from 1978 to 2021.

The decree creating TSUMCO provided for the continuation of work on "the perimeter previously exploited by SOMAÏR", pending the award of a permit for Large Mining Exploitation, the Council said on 21 August. "This draft decree is issued to enshrine the award of the permit for Large Mining Exploitation called 'In Azaoua', thus allowing the continuity of uranium mining in Niger."

The same meeting also saw the Council of Ministers adopt a draft decree on reallocating the mining permit for the Madouela project to the newly incorporated Madaouela Mining Company (MAMICO), the Niger subsidiary of Australia-based Atomic Eagle in which the state of Niger holds 40%. The rights to the Madouela project had been expropriated from previous holder GoviEx Uranium Inc in 2024.