No plans to nationalise Dasa, minister says
Niger’s Minister of Mines Ousmane Abarchi has told Global Atomic Corporation that his government has no intention of nationalising the Dasa uranium project.
The Toronto-based company said it had held "several important meetings" with the minister during the African Mining Indaba Conference held in Cape Town last week at which Abarchi emphasised the Government's strong support for Global Atomic and the Dasa Project, and confirmed his government had no intention to nationalise the Dasa Project.
Abarchi had also made it clear during other meetings at the conference that "Niger welcomes and encourages investment by foreign mining companies, specifically including those from Canada, the United States and Australia", the company said.
Last year, the government of Niger - which changed following a coup d'etat in 2023 - withdrew GoviEx Uranium's mining rights for the Madouela uranium project and Orano's operating permit for its Imouraren uranium mine.
Finance options
Global Atomic had previously been holding debt financing discussions with a US development bank. These had previously been expected to be confirmed in October 2024. But new parties have indicated a willingness to participate in the final funding for Dasa, following meetings at the Indaba Conference, Global Atomic said.
"Since the inauguration of President Trump in the United States of America, the market reaction has been that debt funding for the Dasa Project is unlikely to come from the USA," the company said. "However, these discussions continue as well as the advancement of the Joint Venture final documentation," it added, noting that it has already entered into off-take agreements for 8.8 million pounds U3O8 over the first 7 years of the mine, 90% of which has been sold to US utilities. "Management is confident that these initiatives will continue to progress, and we reiterate our belief that prior to the end of Q1, 2025, further clarity can be shared with the market," it said.
Global Atomic's geologists discovered the high-grade Dasa deposit in 2010, and the company has been developing the mine since the first blast ceremony in November 2022. The processing plant is scheduled for commissioning in early 2026, and plant construction is progressing on schedule while underground development work continues, the company said.
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