Niger has revoked the uranium mining and operating licence granted to French state-owned nuclear company Orano.
Niger’s military government has terminated the operating licence for the Imorarine uranium mine in the north of the country, Orano said in a statement on Friday.
The Imouremarine mine is one of the most important uranium deposits in the world, with uranium reserves of around 200,000 tonnes.
In 2015, the French company planned to operate the deposit without starting production.
However, the military government that took power in 2023 warned that the company’s operating licence would be revoked if it did not start mining the field within three months, starting in March last year.