Areva bags licence to operate world's second biggest uranium mine

16 January 2009

After months of negotiation, the French nuclear energy group Areva has been granted a license to build and operate the Imouraren uranium mine in Niger, the biggest in Africa and the second biggest in the world.

The Imouraren deposit is the largest known uranium deposit in Africa, and the world's second largest, after Australia's Olympic Dam deposit. At a time when a number of countries are reviving their nuclear industries, this is a large-scale operation for both Niger and Areva.

Under the agreement, Areva will have a 66.65-per cent share in the newly created mining company, with the remaining 33.35 per cent being owned by the State of Niger.

Mining at Imouraren is the largest industrial project ever to be envisaged in Niger, with an ultimate annual production of 5,000 metric tons for more than 35 years, an initial investment of more than €1.2 billion ($1.6 billion) and the creation of almost 1400 direct jobs.

Uranium mining at Imouraren will be an in-situ leach (ISL) operation, with uranium dissolved from the host rock and pumped to the surface through wells.

The Imouraren deposit, which has some 146,000 tU of measured uranium resources at a grade of 0.11 per cent, was first discovered in 1966.