The United States is preparing to re-engage with Niger’s military government two years after pulling out its troops, and a Canadian-led uranium venture at Dasa has become the economic centrepiece of that effort. Washington has already backed the project with a credit line worth up to $414.2 million.
The American withdrawal from Niger was completed in August 2024, after the military authorities who took control of the country decided to redirect its political loyalties. The base at Agadez, abandoned by US forces, was seized by Russian troops and used for their own deployment. The handover signalled a broader economic pivot as well: Western concerns mining gold and, above all, uranium ore were pushed out and replaced by Russian companies tied to Alrosa and Rosatom.
Two years later, the money promised under that arrangement has not materialised, and Niger’s state coffers are empty. Russia, absorbed by its war in Ukraine, has neither the means nor the funds to finance projects of this cost. The country’s current rulers have therefore turned back to Western firms with an offer to exploit its natural resources together.
A Canadian project financed from Washington
The focal point of the renewed interest is SOMIDA, a company in which the Canadian mining group Global Atomic holds 80 percent and the Nigerien government the remaining 20 percent. The venture covers the Dasa uranium ore deposit, situated close to the Algerian border. The initial phase of extraction at the site could start in the middle of 2028.
Even with tensions running through bilateral American-Canadian relations, the federal US Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has approved a credit line of up to $414.2 million for Dasa. Research into the deposit indicates that its uranium ore resources would allow mining to continue for 25 years. Work on the infrastructure required to process ore concentrate is currently under way, the Algerie360 portal reported.
The unfinished business of getting the ore out
One question of fundamental importance for the project’s future is still unresolved: how the uranium concentrate is to be delivered to a port. At present, the route considered the best and safest leads from Dasa to the Algerian border, then by truck to the Mediterranean coast, and from there by ship to Canada or the United States.
Źródło: WNP.pl, Fot. RHJPhotos / Shutterstock
