{"id":4968,"date":"2025-11-29T13:40:22","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T13:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/29\/orano-condemns-illegal-uranium-transfer-from-niger-mine\/"},"modified":"2025-11-29T13:40:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T13:40:22","slug":"orano-condemns-illegal-uranium-transfer-from-niger-mine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/29\/orano-condemns-illegal-uranium-transfer-from-niger-mine\/","title":{"rendered":"Orano Condemns Illegal Uranium Transfer from Niger Mine"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

French nuclear group Orano said that it \u201cstrongly condemns\u201d the removal of uranium from the SOMA\u00cfR mine in northern Niger.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The company called the transfer illegal and a direct breach of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes\u2019 (ICSID) September ruling, which prohibits the material from being sold or moved without the company\u2019s consent.<\/p>\n

Orano said it learned of the shipment only after media reports disclosed that uranium had been taken from the Arlit-based facility, which has been under the control of Niger\u2019s military government since late 2024. <\/p>\n

The company went on to explain \u201c (it) is not the initiator of this shipment,\u201d adding that it has no official information on the quantity removed, the shipment\u2019s destination, or the conditions of its transport.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The incident deepens an already severe standoff that has been building for more than a year, following the military junta\u2019s decision in December 2024 to block Orano from operating the mine despite the company\u2019s majority stake. <\/p>\n

At the time, Orano publicly confirmed it had lost operational control, noting that board-approved directives were no longer being carried out and that authorities were preventing the suspension of production expenses.<\/p>\n

The situation escalated further in June 2025, when Niger announced it would nationalize SOMA\u00cfR outright. <\/p>\n

The government accused Orano\u2014a firm it described as \u201cowned by the French state\u2014a state openly hostile toward Niger since July 26, 2023\u201d \u2014 of \u201cirresponsible, illegal, and unfair behaviour.\u201d <\/p>\n

Authorities said the mining agreement had expired in December 2023 and argued that nationalization was an assertion of \u201cfull sovereignty.\u201d Orano, which held a 63 percent stake in the venture, declined to comment at the time but continued to pursue arbitration and legal action.<\/p>\n

The dispute produced a ruling favorable to Orano in September. The ICSID tribunal ordered Niger \u201cnot to sell, transfer, or even facilitate the transfer to third parties of uranium produced by SOMA\u00cfR\u201d that was being held in violation of Orano\u2019s rights. <\/p>\n

That decision has now become central to the new controversy, with the latest shipment appearing to defy the tribunal\u2019s directive.<\/p>\n

Orano said the uranium transfer constitutes a \u201cbreach\u201d of the ruling and warned it is prepared to take further steps in response. The company said it reserves the right to take any additional action necessary, including criminal proceedings against third parties, should the material be taken in violation of its offtake entitlement.<\/p>\n

Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on investingnews.com<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

French nuclear group Orano said that it \u201cstrongly condemns\u201d the removal of uranium from the SOMA\u00cfR mine in northern Niger. The company called the transfer illegal and a direct breach of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes\u2019 (ICSID) September ruling, which prohibits the material from being sold or moved without the company\u2019s consent.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4969,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}