Niger signed a new agreement in Niamey on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, with Australia’s Atomic Eagle to redevelop the Madaouela 1 uranium project near the city of Arlit — a deal that resets the relationship between the two parties and closes out the dispute that followed the withdrawal of the previous operator’s license in July 2024. The project has yet to enter actual production, and the markets that will eventually receive its output remain undetermined.
The terms: a larger state stake and concessional financing
Under the agreement, Niger’s state stake in Madaouela Mining Company rises from 10% to 40%, split between a 15% free-carry stake and a 25% paying stake, while Atomic Eagle retains 60% along with full operational control of the project.
According to local media sources, Niger also secures a $40 million financing facility that can be used to cover its future contributions to the project’s development funding, in addition to a $10 million fee paid to the state for the exploitation license, in two installments: $5 million upon issuance of the license, and another $5 million once construction begins.
The company has also committed to meeting local-content requirements and creating more than a thousand jobs for young Nigeriens, with priority given to local firms for services and the supply of goods linked to the project.
From Canada’s GoviEx to Australia’s Atomic Eagle
The Madaouela project was previously held by Canadian company GoviEx before Nigerien authorities withdrew its license in 2024, as part of a broad review of mining contracts that followed the country’s political transition. Rights to the project subsequently passed to Atomic Eagle, which reached the new agreement signed this week after negotiations.
Madaouela is a separate project from the Arlit mine historically operated by France’s Orano, formerly known as Areva. Among nearby sites in the region, Niger nationalized the Somair mine in Arlit in 2025 and handed its exploitation area to a state-owned company, while the neighboring Cominak mine has been out of production since 2021.
France was the near-exclusive destination — the next one remains open
International trade data show France as the recorded destination for the entirety of Niger’s uranium ore and concentrate exports in 2023, totaling 1,553 tonnes. The destination for Madaouela’s anticipated output, however, has not yet been announced, amid signs that Niamey is seeking to diversify its partners in the sector.
On one track, Niger is holding talks over uranium with a Chinese nuclear company, and a Nigerien company has signed a cooperation memorandum with Uranium One, part of Russia’s Rosatom group. On another, a US financing body has approved potential financing for the separate Dasa project.
None of these tracks has so far translated into a confirmed market specifically for Madaouela’s output, while the sale of part of the Somair stockpile remains the subject of an ongoing arbitration dispute between Niger and France’s Orano.
What the deal signals
The terms of the new agreement point to a pattern that has recurred in Niger’s mining policy since 2024: raising the state’s stake in foreign-run projects, securing upfront fees and financial contributions, and tying foreign investment to explicit local-employment conditions. Whether this approach succeeds with Madaouela, though, will hinge on two factors still unresolved: the actual start of production, and securing export markets that can replace the guarantees Niamey lost with the end of its partnership with France.
