Niger's Ministry of Mines confirmed that the state's equity stake in the Madaouela uranium project has risen to 40% under a new mining convention signed with Madaouela Mining Company (MAMICO) on 23 September 2026 in Niamey. The convention was signed by Mines Minister Commissaire-Colonel Abarchi Ousmane on behalf of the state and by Hoskins Philip Ross, representing Atomic Eagle and MAMICO. Atomic Eagle, the Australian-listed operator formerly known as GoviEx, now holds 60% of the project and retains operational control, down from the 80% it held before the deal.
Outlets differ on the prior state stake: Niger's own state news agency, the Agence Nigérienne de Presse, reported the previous stake at 10%, as did Seneweb and Nasuba Infos. Jeune Afrique, Alwihdainfo, Aujourd'hui au Faso and independent trade press including Mining.com and World Nuclear News instead put the prior stake at 20%. Either way, the state's share has at least doubled, and Atomic Eagle's share has fallen from 80% to 60%.
The convention includes an initial lump-sum royalty to the Nigerien state and a pledge to create approximately 1,000 jobs prioritizing Nigerien youth. Niger's mines ministry, Jeune Afrique, Benin Web TV, Alwihdainfo, Aujourd'hui au Faso, Nasuba Infos and Afrikinfos all put the royalty at $10 million. Seneweb alone reports a $100 million figure, an outlier unreconciled with the ministry's own statement and the consensus of other outlets. Under the deal, Niger will hold a 15% free-carried stake at no cost and a further 25% stake it must help fund, with Atomic Eagle agreeing to cover up to $40 million of Niger's future funding commitments, according to Atomic Eagle's chief executive. The agreement also provides for withdrawal of GoviEx/Atomic Eagle's international arbitration claim within seven days of signing; the company said on 24 September it would take steps to discontinue that arbitration.
Separately, and distinctly from Madaouela, the US International Development Finance Corporation's board approved on 16 September 2026 a conditional debt facility of up to $414.2 million for Global Atomic's Dasa uranium project — a different mine, majority-owned by the Toronto-listed Global Atomic Corporation, with Niger's government holding a 20% interest. Trade press including Mining.com, Northern Miner and Ecofin Agency confirm the figure but stress it is a board-approved commitment, not disbursed funding: Global Atomic must still identify a viable export route for landlocked uranium concentrate, secure extensions to its mining agreement and permit, and obtain assurances on loan-repayment approvals before funds move. The facility comprises a term loan of up to $397.4 million and a cost-overrun facility of $16.8 million, and is roughly 40% higher than the $295 million the DFC initially proposed in 2024. The Dasa project targets 68.1 million pounds of uranium oxide over a 23-year mine life, with production possibly starting in 2028.
The Madaouela deal follows Niger's July 2024 revocation of GoviEx's original exploitation permit, which the company contested via international arbitration before the permit was reattributed to MAMICO by the Council of Ministers on 21 August 2026. The pattern reflects the ruling military government's broader resource-nationalism strategy since its July 2023 coup, which has included a continuing dispute and arbitration with France's Orano after Niger revoked Orano's Imouraren permit in June 2024, and the nationalization of the Somaïr mine in June 2025.
Niger's ministry has not detailed the methodology or timeline behind the 1,000-job pledge, and no independent fiscal-impact analysis of the Madaouela stake increase for Niger's treasury has been published. The prior-stake figure (10% versus 20%) and the royalty figure (10 million versus $100 million) remain unreconciled in public reporting, and whether the DFC's conditions for Dasa — including a workable export route — will be met remains an open question.