{"id":190,"date":"2013-01-17T19:47:39","date_gmt":"2013-01-18T00:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/01\/china-etc-mining-uranium-in-niger-and-mali.html"},"modified":"2013-06-24T11:43:04","modified_gmt":"2013-06-24T15:43:04","slug":"china-etc-mining-uranium-in-niger-and-mali","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/01\/china-etc-mining-uranium-in-niger-and-mali.html","title":{"rendered":"China, etc., mining uranium in Niger and Mali"},"content":{"rendered":"

\r\nA commenter on\r\nMali: a French War for Uranium<\/a>\r\nsuggested that if "that zone" (presumably\r\nthe Sahara in Mali and Niger)\r\nwere such an El Dorado the U.S. and the Chinese would have long been interested.\r\nActually, it turns out numerous countries are involved, especially along\r\nthe\r\nUranium Highway in the Uranium Province in Niger.\r\nNot the Americans so much, but definitely the Chinese.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nAccording to\r\n\r\nWorld Information Service on Energy Uranium Project<\/a>,\r\nin\r\n\r\nMali<\/a>, it's the Canadians (Cascade Resources Ltd.,\r\nNorthern Canadian Uranium Inc., Rockgate Capital Corp.) and\r\nthe Australians (Oklo Uranium Ltd).:\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nThe following companies are performing uranium prospection and\/or exploration in Mali:\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nCascade Resources Ltd. <\/a>,\r\nNorthern Canadian Uranium Inc. <\/a>,\r\nRockgate Capital Corp. <\/a>,\r\nOklo Uranium Ltd <\/a>\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\n

Fal\u00e9a uranium\/silver project<\/a><\/h3>\r\n> View deposit info<\/a>
\r\nOpposition to uranium mining in Fal\u00e9a: Association des ressortissants et\r\namis de la Commune de Fal\u00e9a (ARACF) <\/a>\r\n

\r\nPre-Feasibility study on Fal\u00e9a mine project started<\/b>:\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nOn Nov. 15, 2012, Rockgate Capital Corp. announced the commencement of a Pre-Feasibility study on its Fal\u00e9a U-Ag-Cu project in south-west Mali. Rockgate has engaged the services of the DRA Group <\/a> of Johannesburg, South Africa to complete the study.\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\n

\r\nEnvironmental and social baseline studies commissioned on Fal\u00e9a mine project<\/b>:\r\nOn April 26, 2010, Rockgate Capital Corp. announced that it has commissioned environmental and social baseline studies on the Fal\u00e9a Project, Mali.\r\n<\/p><\/p><\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nApparently Niger has more recoverable Uranium than either the U.S. or Canada;\r\nmore than Kazakhstan; more than any country except Australia.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\n\r\n\r\nIn Niger<\/a>, it's Russia, Korea, India, and here are a few notes\r\nabout Chinese involvement:\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nAreva ready to give Chinese access to Imouraren uranium mine:\r\n<\/strong>\r\nFrench nuclear giant Areva is ready to open up to a Chinese partner the\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nImouraren uranium mine in northwestern Niger, which it partially owns,\r\nthe French president's office said Thursday (Nov. 4). (AFP Nov. 5, 2010)\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n
\r\n

Azelik deposit<\/a> (Teguidda deposit<\/a>), Agadez region<\/h3>\r\n> View deposit info<\/a>\r\n

\r\nAzelik mine in Niger sends first uranium shipment to China<\/b>\r\nOn Oct. 22, 2012, CNNC's Azelik mine sent the first shipment of uranium product to China. Construction of the mine started in July 2008, and pilot production commenced in March 2011.\r\n(CNNC Oct. 30, 2012)\r\n

\r\nNiger secures $99 million China loan for Azelik uranium mine<\/b>:\r\nNiger has secured a 650 million yuan preferential loan from China's Export-Import Bank to fund development of the Azelik uranium mine in the country's north, the government said.\r\n

\r\nNiger and China's National Nuclear Corporation formed a joint venture, Somina, in 2007 for development of the Azelik deposit, with production of 700 tonnes per year.\r\n

\r\nThe loan is repayable in 15 years with a five-year grace period and an interest rate of 2 percent, a source close to the joint-venture company told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The government did not comment on the terms of the loan.\r\n(Reuters Apr. 1, 2011)\r\n

\r\nChina produces first overseas uranium in Niger<\/b>:\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nThe Azelik mine produced its first barrels of uranium product on Dec. 30, 2010.\r\nThe company will now continue testing and improvements to reach full capacity as soon as possible.\r\n(CNNC Dec. 31, 2010)\r\n

\r\nThe overseas arm of China National Nuclear Corp expects to produce its first uranium this year and to raise production to 2,500 tonnes by 2015, an executive said on Tuesday (Nov. 16).\r\n

\r\n\r\nChen Yuehui<\/a> deputy general manager of China Uranium Corporation told a conference that the Azelik mine in Niger, 37.2 percent owned by the company, would start trial production before the year-end.\r\n

\r\nChina Uranium Corp plans to take output to 4,000-5,000 tonnes by 2020. It also plans to have total uranium resources of 1 million tonnes by 2015.\r\n(Reuters Nov. 16, 2010)\r\n

\r\n\r\n\r\nChina uranium mining company causes unrest in Niger<\/a><\/b>:\r\nThe sun-wizened Tuareg women of Azalik have declared war on China. Like their ancestors, they once eked out a living selling dried salts from an ancestral well. Everything changed last year, when the government leased their land to the China Nuclear International Uranium Corporation (Sino-U) for uranium exploration. Left with no livelihood and no compensation, a hundred women gathered to launch stones at mining machinery.\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\n"Now it is eternal war," says Tinatina Salah, their 50-year-old leader, who still seeks compensation for the loss of her salt.
\r\n

\r\nTuareg rebels accuse deposed president Tandja's administration and mining companies of neglecting development in the north, which is a Tuareg stronghold.\r\n

\r\nLast month Nigerien workers \u2013 many of whom are Tuareg \u2013 denounced in a written statement conditions at SOMINA, claiming it resembled "a Chinese colony." Nigerien laborers sleep in dorms, separately from Chinese workers. The rooms are located in illegal proximity to open pit uranium mines, and the Nigeriens suffer chronic diarrhea on account of an unsanitary water supply, the document charged.\r\n(Christian Science Monitor Mar. 29, 2010)\r\n

\r\nSinohydro Corp. <\/a>, China's leading hydraulic construction contractor announced it has secured a 140 million U.S. dollar uranium mine construction deal in Niger with China Nuclear International Uranium Corp. (SinoUranium).\r\n

\r\nThe contract calls for building a uranium mine with annual output of 600,000 tons, a coal-fired power plant and a hydrometallurgy plant in the African country, Sinohydro said in a statement on its website.\r\nThe construction will last 900 days.\r\n(People's Daily Online Apr. 8, 2008)\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/p><\/p><\/p><\/p><\/p><\/p><\/p><\/p><\/p><\/p><\/p><\/p><\/p><\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nA coal plant?\r\nThat's an interesting wrinkle for a uranium mining company.\r\nWhat happened to nuclear power being good for the environment\r\nbecause it supposedly reduced coal burning?\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n

\r\nOn Nov. 9, 2007, the government of Niger granted Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 des Mines d'Azelik (SOMINA)<\/a> a mining license for the Azelik uranium deposit. SOMINA was formed on June 5, 2007, by the state of Niger and its Chinese partners. On June 19, 2007, the company applied for a mining license for the Azelik uranium deposit. The application was accompanied by an environmental impact study which was approved in July 2007, and a technical-economical feasibility study. The license was granted, after the latter study had been modified, as requested by the authorities.\r\n(Tamtaminfo Nov. 9, 2007)\r\n

\r\nCNNC<\/a> plans the first production from the Teguidda deposit for the beginning of 2010. (Trendfield, July 24, 2006)\r\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nHere’s\r\n\r\na treasure map<\/a> to the Uranium Highway in the Uranium Province of this Saharan El Dorado:\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\n
\r\n\r\n“the highly productive Tim Mersoi Basin in North-East Niger,\r\n
\r\nhome to two uranium mines producing 12% of the world’s uranium supply.”<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nThe commenter thought:\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n"More simply, eradication of Islamic fundamentalist\r\nmovements became a necessity to ensure the security of peoples of the world."\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\n"The sun-wizened Tuareg women of Azalik" don't sound much like\r\nreligious fundamentalists to me.\r\nTheir motivation seems clear:\r\n"Left with no livelihood and no compensation".\r\nI suppose it is a good excuse that some of the separatists in Mali\r\nare religiously organized, but\r\n\r\nthere are half a dozen groups in Mali,<\/a>\r\na secular separatist coalition, a Songhai ethnic militia, a Fulani\r\nethnic militia, and at least three different religious groups, plus some\r\ndrug lords.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nStill looks like a French war for uranium to me.\r\nIf the French are also protecting the interests of all the other\r\ncountries mining in that Saharan El Dorado,\r\nthat merely adds to my point.\r\nThe commenter wishes for the French to succeed.\r\nI wish that we don't get dependent on uranium so we don't need to\r\nfight wars for it.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n-jsq\r\n<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A commenter on Mali: a French War for Uranium suggested that if "that zone" (presumably the Sahara in Mali and Niger) were such an El Dorado the U.S. and the Chinese would have long been interested. Actually, it turns out numerous countries are involved, especially along the Uranium Highway in the Uranium Province in Niger. […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[97,216,14,16,2,570,104,21,22,32,23,73,74,24,36],"tags":[8736,864,858,865,862,868,398,867,866,8753,8704,8706,426,860,861,8699,876,8702,12,857,8783,863,874,8737,8782,8711,8712,8715,8713,8731,871,875,8732,8714,873,872,870,869,423,859,8716],"class_list":["post-190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-activism","category-coal","category-economy","category-environment","category-government","category-military","category-nuclear","category-planning","category-politics","category-pollution","category-renewable-energy","category-safety","category-security","category-solar","category-wind","tag-activism","tag-agadez","tag-areva","tag-azelik","tag-canada","tag-chen-yuehui","tag-china","tag-china-national-nuclear-corp","tag-cnnc","tag-coal","tag-economy","tag-environment","tag-france","tag-gas","tag-gold","tag-government","tag-health","tag-lake","tag-lowndes-area-knowledge-exchange","tag-mali","tag-military","tag-niger","tag-nigeria","tag-nuclear","tag-oil","tag-planning","tag-politics","tag-pollution","tag-renewable-energy","tag-safety","tag-salt","tag-sanitation","tag-security","tag-solar","tag-somina","tag-teguidda","tag-tinatina-salah","tag-tuareg","tag-uranium","tag-war","tag-wind"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-34","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4337,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions\/4337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}