Niger’s Mines Minister Colonel Ousmane Abarchi visited Global Atomic Corporation’s Dasa uranium mining project in the north of the country and expressed the government’s support.

Global Atomic said the visit on 3 May was part of a ministerial tour of “significant exploration and mining projects in the Agadez region of northern Niger”. The visit included a tour of the underground development as well as a review of the mine design, the current 23-year mine plan, the plant design and the timelines for plant commissioning at the end of 2025.

Stephen G. Roman, Global Atomic president and CEO, said: “We were honoured to host the mines minister and other dignitaries at our Dasa operation. The Minister expressed his continuing support for the project and confirmed the government’s recognition of Dasa’s strategic value and near-term economic benefit that will be realised in the form of local employment, taxes and royalties.”

The company’s relationship with the Niger Government has “always been positive” since the engagement began in 2008, he added. The government helps to provide “security in the region and assistance with expediting logistics to equip our mining team with supplies and consumables to maintain a high pace of mine development”.

Underground development of Dasa, a high-grade uranium deposit 105km south of the town of Arlit, began in 2022, and first deliveries are expected in 2025. Toronto-based Global Atomic owns 80% of the project, which will be operated under the company’s Niger mining subsidiary Société Minière de Dasa, which is 20%-owned by the Government of Niger.

Governments around the world are looking to secure supplies of uranium as fuel for their nuclear power projects. Many currently rely on Russia for nuclear fuel supplies but have been trying to move away from this amid Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine. Last week, the US Senate passed a bill banning the import of low-enriched uranium from Russia.