Uranium mining in Niger
The uranium mining in Niger is one of the most important industries in the country. Uranium is Niger's most important export. Uranium mining in Niger developed under French leadership and the country has been one of the world's major uranium suppliers since production began in 1971. In 2015, the Nigerien share (from two active mines ) was around 7% of world uranium production.
Historical background
Although Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world, but the country is rich, inter alia, to the Bodenschatz uranium. The first uranium deposit at Azelik was discovered in 1957 during copper exploration by the French geological service, the Bureau de recherches géologiques et minières (BRGM). The French Atomic Energy Agency (CEA) then initiated further studies, which subsequently discovered more deposits, including Arlit in 1965 and Akouta in 1967. The first uranium was mined in 1971.
Uranium is by far the most important commodity in the country today: in 2010 it made up over 60 percent of Niger's total exports. Up to this point in time, about 114,346 t of uranium had been produced in Niger. In 2015, Niger was the fourth largest uranium producer after Kazakhstan , Canada and Australia . Two mines with a total production of 4116 t uranium provided about 7% of the world production.
After difficult negotiations including the cessation of production in 2010, Orano , the operator of the two currently active uranium mines, and the Nigerien government signed a new five-year contract in 2014 for the continued operation of the two active mines. This is based on the Nigerien Mining Act of 2006 and includes the gradual increase of the mining levies to 12%, measured on the market value of the uranium and depending on the profitability of the mines as well as investments in the regional infrastructure of the country.
The uranium mining province is located in the north of the country, about 900 km north of the capital Niamey . The uranium extracted is initially sold proportionally to the owners of the mining companies. The applicable price is set by the Nigerien government (around US $ 145 per kg uranium in 2014). The shareholders can then market their uranium share independently on the world market or consume it independently. The uranium concentrates are exported via the port of Cotonou in the neighboring country of Benin . The main aim of uranium exports is the conversion plant in Pierrelatte, France .
Niger is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, including the Additional Protocol, which the country signed in 2004.
Geography and geology
All currently known uranium deposits in Niger are located in the Tim Mersoi sedimentary basin with an area of 140,000 km² in the north of the country, west of the Air massif . All uranium deposits belong to the sedimentary type, with tabular uranium ore bodies occurring in Cambrian to Cretan limnic sandstones . The sources of uranium in the Tim Mersoi Basin are assumed to be anorogenic granites (A-type granites) from the Air massif and crystalline rocks from the basement. The uranium was transported through saline basin solutions with a temperature of 80 to 180 ° C and precipitated in sandstone formations rich in organic material and sulfur. The age of the uranium mineralization is around 290 to 130 million years with two main times of formation at around 190 and 150 million years.
Uranium minerals in the ore bodies are essentially uraninite and coffinite . Significant secondary components include sulfides ( pyrite , marcasite , sphalerite ), montrosite , vanadium-rich chlorite , corrensite and jordisite . The size of the individual ore bodies varies from a few 100 to more than 50,000 t of uranium content (in the case of Akouta and Arlit) with uranium contents of 0.2 to 0.5% in the ore.
The organic material (registered plant remains) in the sandstone formations had as a reducing agent is critically important for the development of uranium deposits in the Tim-Morsoi basin, thus counting IAEA these uranium deposits into a separate subtype tabularer sandstone reservoirs, the intrinsically associated with carbon uranium mineralization ( English Intrinsic carbon related deposits ). Akouta and Arlit are the world's largest examples of this type of deposit. Dahlkamp classifies these uranium deposits similarly to the subtype of tabular / pen-concordant uranium deposits of sandstone-bound uranium deposits: Uranium deposits in fluvial sandstones with intrinsic reducing agents, with Arlit being the typical example for this form of uranium mineralization.
Projects
SOMAIR
The Société des Mines de l'Air (SOMAIR) operates the uranium mines and uranium processing around 7 km northwest of Arlit and 250 km north of Agadez. The company was founded in 1968 and started uranium production in 1971. SOMAIR is owned by the French group Areva with a share of 63.6% and the Nigerian Office National des Ressources Minieres du Niger (ONAREM), held by the state-owned company Société du Patrimoine des Mines du Niger (SOPAMIN).
The three opencast mines Arlit, Tomou and Artois are between 70 and 90 m deep and supply a conventional processing plant with a capacity of 3000 t uranium per year. The average uranium content in the feed ore in 2015 was 0.28%. A sodium uranium concentrate is produced from this ore. In addition, in 2010 a heap leach plant (Arlit-Lixi) with a capacity of 1.2 million tons of ore per year for poor ores with less than 0.1% uranium content was put into operation, which can additionally produce around 1000 tons of uranium per year.
As Islamist groups grew stronger in North and Central Africa, attacks on the mines in Arlit increased. In 2010, 7 Areva employees were kidnapped in Arlit. On May 23, 2013, a suicide bomber blew himself up in the Arlit opencast mine . 26 people died and 50 were injured, 13 of whom were AREVA employees.
COMINAK
The Compagnie Minière d'Akouta (COMINAK) was founded in 1974 and began underground mining near the city of Akokan in 1978, initially on the Akouta deposit and then on Akola and Afasto from a depth of around 250 m . The company is 34% owned by Areva, 25% by Japanese Overseas Uranium Resources Development Co. (OURD), 10% by Spanish Enusa SA and 31% by ONAREM in Niger through Sopamine. The current ore processing capacity is 1,800 t uranium (as magnesium uranium) per year. The uranium content of the feed ore was 0.4% in 2015. Areva is the operator of the systems.
SOMINA
The Société des Mines d'Azelik (SOMINA) was founded in 2007 to mine uranium from the Azelik deposit . This is located about 160 km south of Arlit. The company is 37.2% owned by the Chinese CNNC International (also operator), 33% by the Nigerien state, 24.8% by the Chinese investment group ZXJOY Invest and 5% by the South Korean Korea Resources Corp (KORES).
Extraction started in 2011 and the annual production increased to 225 t of uranium by 2014. Originally, a production of 2500 t uranium was to be achieved in 2015 and this should be doubled again by 2020, but the owners decided in 2015 to shut down the mine for the time being due to financial and technical difficulties. The deposit was developed both by opencast and underground mining and used alkaline leaching to extract the uranium from the ore, which had an average uranium content of 0.2%.
Imouraries
Imouraren SA is 66.65% owned by Areva NC Expansion (86.5% Areva, 13.5% Korea Electric Power Co - KEPCO) and 33.35% by the Nigerien state, represented by its government (10%) and Sopamin ( 23.35%).
The Imouraren deposits are located approximately 80 km south of Arlit. The deposit extends over 8 × 2.5 km and, according to Areva, contains uranium reserves of 213,700 t with an average uranium content of 0.07% and other indicated resources of 62,500 t of uranium. With a planned investment volume of around 1.9 billion euros, Imouraren is the most important mining project ever started in Niger. Exploration work on the open pit began in 2012 and production should start in 2013. Over a production period of 35 years, the mine is expected to deliver 5,000 t of uranium annually. However, disputes with workers led to delays during the construction phase and the drop in the uranium price led to further postponements. A joint commission from Areva and the Nigerien government is to set a new date for the start of production, but this will probably not be before 2020.
Other Projects
There are currently a number of other projects in the advanced planning stage in Niger. The Canadian company GoviEx Uranium is developing the Madaouela uranium project about 15 km from Arlit. According to company information, the deposit contains a measured and indicated uranium resource of 38,200 tons and an additional 7,050 tons of uranium as an inferred resource. The Nigerien state, which holds 10% of the project shares, issued the mining permits for the project in spring 2016. The ore bodies are to be extracted both above and below ground and will deliver around 1,000 t of uranium per year over a period of 21 years.
Global Atomic Fuels Corp., also from Canada, is exploring four uranium deposits in Niger. Of these, Dasa, about halfway between Arlit and Agadez, is the furthest advanced. The preliminary total resource for Dasa is 44,500 tonnes of uranium with an average uranium grade of 0.155% (0.05% uranium threshold). The preliminary studies envisage underground mining of Dasa.
Environmental and health consequences
After residents of Arlit and employees had voiced their concerns about environmental and health consequences for decades, the French " Commission for Independent Research and Information on Radioactivity " (CRIIRAD) and Greenpeace in 2009 investigated the situation in Arlit. Both concluded that ionizing radiation is almost ubiquitous in Arlit. Increased levels of radioactive decay processes were detected in the ground, in the air and in the water, but also in objects and buildings. The radioactivity released has significantly increased the mortality rate among workers and residents in the mining areas.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Uranium in Niger - World Nuclear Association
- ↑ World Uranium Mining 2015 - World Nuclear Association
- ↑ a b c Bouabdellah, M. 2016. Mineral Deposits of North Africa. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg.
- ^ IAEA - World Distribution of Uranium Deposits (UDEPO) with Uranium Deposit Classification - 2009 Edition
- ^ Dahlkamp, FJ, 2009. Uranium Deposits of the World - Asia. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg.
- ↑ Telepolis: Attack on the uranium mine of the French company Areva in Niger. In: Telepolis. Retrieved June 28, 2016 .
- ↑ Marvin Kumetat ( zenith (magazine) ): Uranium mining in Niger: The curse of radiant wealth. In: Spiegel online. Retrieved June 26, 2016 .
- ↑ Der Spiegel : Uranium Extraction in Niger: The Yellow Curse , April 2, 2010, accessed on September 10, 2018
Coordinates: 18 ° 44 ′ 39.1 ″ N , 7 ° 22 ′ 6.2 ″ E