The United States has injected $414 million into Niger’s Dasa uranium project, a direct counterpoint to the collapse of production at SOMAÏR (Société des mines de l’Aïr), the historic mine long operated by French group Orano. This development underscores the geopolitical and mining realignment now underway in Niamey.
SOMAÏR’s paralysis and the rupture with France
SOMAÏR has suffered a massive production deficit—falling by more than 80% from its nominal capacity—due to blocked export routes, the closure of borders with Benin, and the impossibility of transporting uranium concentrate (yellowcake) to the port of Cotonou. This logistical and financial asphyxiation led Orano to suspend operations, before Niger’s transitional government revoked the permits and took control of the site. For Niamey, SOMAÏR embodied the old neocolonial model from which it sought to break away, even at the cost of a near-total halt in output from this historic mine.
Dasa steps in: American opportunism fills the void
While SOMAÏR’s uranium remains stranded or underutilized, the Dasa project—led by Canadian company Global Atomic—is emerging as Niger’s new mining engine.
- Replacing volumes: The Dasa deposit boasts some of the highest uranium grades in the world, positioned to substantially offset SOMAÏR’s extraction losses for the international market.
- Washington’s pragmatism: The $414 million injection by the U.S. DFC demonstrates that where French players like Orano find themselves paralyzed or sidelined by political disputes with the junta, the United States secures its future supplies through financial structures and North American companies perceived as more neutral by Nigerien authorities.
Reconfiguring mining sovereignty
This contrast reveals that General Tiani’s regime is cornered by its all-military approach, forcing it to turn to European and American investments it once criticized upon coming to power.
