Niamey - (AFP) - Niger , which is a major supplier of uranium to the European Union, is facing difficulty in securing resources from this ore due to low prices, the difficulty of exploiting reserves, and international investors who appear very greedy at times.

In response to a question by Agence France-Presse, the Nigerian Minister of Mines, Jacob Hadizato Oseni, regrets that "the global uranium industry is witnessing a continuous trend of falling prices."

He mentioned in particular the "environmental pressure" after the Japanese Fukushima reactor disaster or the exploitation of "rich deposits in Canada in particular."

In practice, this means that work has stopped since 2014 at the huge construction site of the Imurarin field, which was supposed to produce five thousand tons annually for 35 years, "due to market conditions," as explained by the French "Orano" group, which was supposed to manage the site.

The former Areva group recently reduced its operations in this country, which secures 20 percent of Europe's uranium needs.

And last year, the company "Kominac", one of its subsidiaries that has existed since the seventies of the twentieth century in the desert region of Arlit, stopped its activities after running out of resources.

The production of its second site, which is managed by its subsidiary “Sumer”, decreased, with 2,000 tons extracted in 2021, compared to 3,000 tons nine years ago.

Does this mean the end of Nigerien uranium? And the answer: not necessarily.

After years of decline, prices are witnessing some increase, as the price per pound of uranium has reached $50, a figure far from the $110 in 2007, but higher than the prices recorded at the end of 2010.

"Prices are low compared to the cost of production, and a large number of mines have been closed for this reason," a French expert in this field, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

He added, "The recovery today is slow and in the long term, there are great needs, especially for power plants in Russia or China."

And this future whets the appetite of global companies.

Chinese, Australian, American, British, Italian, Canadian, Indian and Russian companies have obtained exploration permits in recent years.

"Today we have 31 concessions for uranium exploration and 11 valid uranium mining permits," Nigeria's minister of mines told AFP.

On November 5, the Global Atomic Corporation conducted its first token extraction to announce the start of uranium mining at its site, about 100 kilometers south of Arlit.

It promised to pump about 121 billion CFA francs (184.4 million euros) into building a mine in 2023.

Nigerian President Muhammad Bazoum confirmed at the end of last year that "uranium (...) is open to those who have the technical ability to exploit it."

He told a French expert, "There is a future for uranium in Niger, but not necessarily with France."

Historically, Niger has not benefited much from the richness of its soil. In 2020, its contribution to the national budget did not exceed 1.2 percent.

This issue turned several times into a political and economic confrontation with the former French colonial power.

In 2007, President Mamoudou Tanga demanded an increase of up to 40 percent in the purchase price of uranium by the French company Areva.

His successor, Mahamadou Issoufou, a former Areva employee, was furious that uranium revenues, of which his country is the fourth largest producer in the world, constituted no more than "five percent of national budget revenues" at the time.

In 2014, after lengthy negotiations, an agreement was signed under which Niger would get better benefits by building the giant Imorarine mine, which is still waiting.

Ali Idrissa, coordinator of the Niger Network of Transparency and Budget Analysis Organizations, a coalition of NGOs, confirms to AFP that "there is no win-win partnership: Niger did not have a profit from uranium exploitation."

Chiroma Isami Mamadou, a Nigerian expert, says that uranium "brought nothing but ruin to us (...) and all the benefits to France," referring to the almost complete monopoly by "Urano" (formerly Areva) for nearly half a century.

"Since the establishment of mining companies in Niger, until the end of 2021, Niger has benefited from 85 percent of the direct economic repercussions of mining companies, which consist of mining fees, taxes and other fees, and profits," Orano says, in response to a question by AFP.

The French company adds that it has invested tens of millions of euros "in projects to improve the health of the population, the education of children, access to water, and the economic development of municipalities in the regions where the mining sites are located."