Niger, Atomic Eagle Sign Mining Convention for Madaouela Uranium Project

Niger and the Australian mining company Atomic Eagle signed a Mining Convention in Niamey on September 25, restoring the company’s rights to the Madaouela uranium project and formally ending a dispute that began when Niger’s government revoked its predecessor’s mining rights in 2024. The agreement grants the exploitation permit to Atomic Eagle’s Nigerien subsidiary, MAMICO, with Atomic Eagle holding a 60% stake and the Nigerien state holding the remaining 40%.

What the mining convention sets out

The convention was signed by Atomic Eagle chief executive Phil Hoskins and Niger’s Minister of Mines, Colonel-Commissioner Abarchi Ousmane. It runs for an initial 10-year term with renewal provisions and includes legal, fiscal and regulatory stabilization clauses intended to shield the project from further policy changes. Atomic Eagle owes Niger an initial $5 million within 30 days of execution and a further $5 million once construction begins, and has also agreed to cover up to $40 million of the state’s future funding obligations while it updates feasibility work, pursues environmental approvals and lines up project financing over the next two years. The signing formally discontinues the international arbitration case filed against Niger by Atomic Eagle’s predecessor.

How the dispute unwound

Madaouela, near the northern town of Arlit, was licensed in 2016 to GoviEx Uranium, which had operated in Niger since 2007 and put roughly $160 million into the project. The military government that took power in Niger’s 2023 coup revoked GoviEx’s exploitation permit in 2024 and returned the asset to state control, prompting GoviEx to file arbitration proceedings with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in December 2024. Both sides suspended that case in January 2025 to negotiate a settlement, and GoviEx merged with Australian-listed Tombador Iron in November 2025 to form Atomic Eagle. An August 2026 framework agreement outlined the terms that Thursday’s Mining Convention has now made formal and binding, triggering the arbitration’s discontinuation.

A bigger stake for Niger, a bigger resource for Atomic Eagle

Madaouela holds an estimated 116.5 million pounds of uranium oxide (U3O8), including 96.9 million pounds classified as measured and indicated, making it one of the larger undeveloped uranium deposits in Africa. The state’s 40% stake is double what Niger held in the project under GoviEx’s original license, reflecting a pattern of African governments pushing for larger equity positions in mining agreements since 2023. Niger has historically ranked among the world’s leading uranium producers through Orano’s long-running Somair mine, but the sector’s output and foreign investment have been unsettled since the coup, which also strained Orano’s own position in the country. Atomic Eagle says the settlement should renew financing interest in Madaouela, though a construction decision still depends on completing feasibility and environmental work over the next two years — meaning first production remains several years away even with the legal dispute resolved.

Sources

• World Nuclear News, “Agreement clears way for resumption of Niger uranium project,” September 25, 2026
• MINING.COM, “Atomic Eagle expects renewed financing interest in Niger after uranium deal,” September 2026
• Miningmx, “Niger doubles stake in Madaouela uranium project,” September 2026

Illustrative image. Photo: Nuclear Regulatory Commission from US, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — source