Niger's military government has restated its intention to sell the country's uranium directly on international markets, bypassing French group Orano, which historically handled commercialization of output from the Arlit mines. The policy is not new: President Abdourahamane Tiani first announced it on 30 November 2025, declaring that Niger would exercise its “legitimate right” to sell its own resources “to whoever wishes to buy, under market rules, in complete independence,” according to state broadcaster Télé Sahel.
The renewed attention follows an administrative step, not a new sales policy: on 21 August 2026, Niger's Council of Ministers awarded a large-scale mining permit for the In Azaoua perimeter near Arlit to the state company Teloua Safeguarding Uranium Mining Company (TSUMCO SA). TSUMCO itself was created earlier, by a May 2026 decree that also cancelled the historic 1968 Arlit concession originally granted to France's Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). The August decree formalized TSUMCO's right to continue mining the perimeter previously run by Société des Mines de l'Aïr (SOMAÏR), the Orano-linked joint venture — 63.4% owned by Orano and 36.6% by Niger's state mining company Sopamin — which Niger nationalized in June 2025.
The rupture with Orano dates back further still, to Niger's 2023–2025 sequence of permit revocations and nationalizations following the July 2023 coup: Orano lost its Imouraren permit in June 2024, announced in December 2024 that it had lost operational control of its Niger mines, and saw SOMAÏR formally nationalized in June 2025.
Orano disputes the legality of these moves and has pursued arbitration at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). In a decision dated 23 September 2025, an ICSID tribunal ordered Niger not to sell, transfer, or facilitate the transfer of SOMAÏR-produced uranium that Orano says was withheld in violation of its rights — a ruling the tribunal reinforced with a further provisional-measures order in November 2025. Despite the ruling, Reuters reported that around 1,050 tonnes of uranium had been moved out of SOMAÏR by late 2025, though the destination and buyer were not confirmed. Orano has said it has no direct information on the ground since losing operational control in December 2024, and has warned it will pursue legal action, including against third parties, over any unauthorized sale of the roughly 1,000-1,300 tonnes of stockpiled material at stake.
No specific buyers for Niger's uranium have been confirmed in reporting to date, and Niger's government maintains that no uranium had been sold from the mine since a cutoff date in July 2023, a claim that conflicts with Orano's account of an illegal shipment. The dispute continues alongside a broader restructuring of Niger's mining sector: in September 2026, Niamey also signed a new agreement with Australia's Atomic Eagle to revive the Madaouela uranium project, raising the state's stake to 40%.