Niger Uranium draws bulk of foreign revenues in Niger. The economy of Niger is hugely benefited by the
Niger Uranium. Around 70 % of the export revenues come from Uranium of Niger. Niger can be rated as the third largest Uranium producing areas of the world, Canada and Australia being the first and second.
The major Uranium producing regions of Niger include:
Air Massif, which is the mine in Arlit Niger, is owned by SOMAIR. SOMAIR has a joint venture with ONAREM, which is a state owned mineral company. Air Massif is also owned by Cogema, Pachiney uranium CFM Urangsellsschaft. Capacity of Uranium producing is around 1400 tonnes per year.
Acouta also has a Uranium mine. COMINAK owns the mine. It is also a joint venture between Cogema, ONAREM, Overseas Uranium Resources Development (OURD) of Japan and Empresa National del Uranio which is a Spanish company. This mine has the capacity of producing 2000 tonnes of Uranium per year.
In 1957 the discovery of Uranium in Niger happened in Azelik. After that Uranium was discovered at other places too. Uranium mining in Niger is also one of the largest employments producing industry of Niger which is a very poor country. At the end of 2003 around 4,400 workers were directly absorbed here. It also produced around 500 indirect workers. Though some of the mines are exhausted some are still producing quality uranium.
