Niger's Mining Convention with Australian-listed Atomic Eagle over the Madaouela uranium deposit was formally signed in Niamey on 23 September 2026 by Mining Minister Colonel-Commissioner Abarchi Ousmane and Atomic Eagle CEO Phil Hoskins, converting an August 2026 framework agreement into a binding legal, fiscal and operational structure (World Nuclear News).
Under the convention, Atomic Eagle's Nigerien subsidiary, Madaouela Mining Company SA (MAMICO), holds 60% of the project and retains operational control, while Niger holds 40%, comprising a 15% free-carried interest and a 25% contributing interest. The state's stake doubles from the 20% it held under the project's previous operator, GoviEx Uranium, before Niger's military government revoked GoviEx's permit in July 2024 — a figure confirmed both by contemporaneous 2024 reporting on the original 20/80 ownership split and by multiple independent outlets covering the September 2026 settlement, including Niger's mines ministry itself.
The convention took effect immediately upon signing and provides legal, fiscal and regulatory stabilisation measures, a framework for future project financing and offtake arrangements, and an initial ten-year exploitation permit term with renewal provisions. Atomic Eagle will pay Niger an initial US$5 million within 30 days of execution, while broader financing, a JORC-compliant resource upgrade, and a roughly two-year path toward construction and production remain pending.
Execution of the convention also triggers the agreed steps to discontinue the historical ICSID arbitration that GoviEx launched against Niger in December 2024 after the permit revocation, and which both sides had suspended since early 2025 pending negotiations. As of the signing, confirmation that the ICSID case has been formally and fully discontinued remained outstanding; Atomic Eagle said only that it would now take the required steps to do so.
The deal follows a pattern of Niger renegotiating uranium partnerships since the 2024 permit revocations affecting Orano's Imouraren mine and GoviEx's Madaouela project, and the 2025 nationalisation of the Somaïr mine — with the Atomic Eagle settlement offering a negotiated resolution that contrasts with the unresolved dispute involving France's Orano.