Chengxin Lithium has announced plans to build two lithium sulphate plants, one in Zimbabwe's Buhera district and one in Ilorin, Nigeria, with combined investment of about $476 million.
Niger's cabinet has granted a uranium mining permit for the In Azaoua area near Arlit to Tsumco SA, a state company created after Niger nationalised Orano's Somaïr mine, formalising its control of ground once run by the French group.
GoviEx Uranium and Niger's mining ministry held a week of technical and legal talks in Niamey in June 2026 aimed at drafting a new mining convention that could pave the way back to the Madaouela uranium project.
Niger's military ruler Abdourahamane Tiani said about 95,000 tonnes of concentrated uranium powder is ready to be returned to Orano, while insisting uranium produced since the Somaïr nationalisation belongs to Niger.
An ICSID arbitration tribunal has ordered Niger not to sell or transfer uranium produced at the nationalised Somaïr mine, siding with French group Orano in a dispute over roughly 1,500 tonnes of yellowcake.
Niger's military government has announced the nationalisation of the Somaïr uranium mine run by France's Orano, accusing the firm of taking an outsized share of production since 1971.
