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HTML <html> <head> <title>Niger Uranium: Reward Potential</title> </head> <body> <h1>Niger Uranium: Reward Potential</h1> <div class="info">Author: <a href="author_1_4887.html">James Finch</a></div><div class="body">Named after the river which runs through it, Niger produces nearly four times the uranium currently mined in the United States. More uranium is mined in Niger than in Russia, South Africa, India, China, Brazil, Ukraine Namibia or Uzbekistan. In fact, if you added up the total amount of uranium mined in South Africa, China, India, Brazil, Czech Republic and the Ukraine for 2004, Niger would trump the combined production of those six countries. Until Dr. Jon North came along, uranium mining was pretty much monopolized by Cogema and a consortium that includes Spanish and Japanese interests.<br /> <br /> "This is the fourth largest uranium producer in the world," raved an excited Dr. North into his cell phone during our taped interview. "Niger has never had an entrepreneurial and nimble junior mining company ever explore for uranium. And this is the first one." North was talking about Northwestern Mineral Ventures. "Imagine if Australia, Canada and Kazakhstan never had a junior company looking for uranium. It's absolutely absurd to even consider the concept."<br /> <br /> The Republic of Niger supplies about 9 percent of the world's annual production to meet the growing need for uranium to fuel the world's nuclear reactors. According to the IAEA-NEA Red Book of 2003, the sub-Saharan Niger ranked #4 behind Australia, Kazakhstan and Canada for total uranium reserves. In the 2005 update, it fell to seventh place. It may be that this country is under-explored. In 1981, Niger produced a peak of 4366 tonnes of uranium. As with others, mining production plummeted with the spot price of uranium during the 1980s and 1990s. The slump hit the country hard because Niger depends upon uranium for more than 30 percent of its exports, more than $100 million. Five percent of the country's tax revenues come from uranium mining.<br /> <br /> Exploration licenses are valid for a period of nine years, three-year licenses which are renewable three times. The country's mining act allows companies to apply for a mining license, which can be granted for between 25 and 70 years.<br /> <br /> Uranium in the Republic of Niger is mined by open pit because of the sandstones. "These are redox deposits," North noted. "They tend to be associated with reduced layers and structures, such as the former salt diapirs and faults in the stratigraphy. At the time, we didn't really understand why we were doing that. We just knew there was an association with uranium deposits and these structures in Niger."<br /> <br /> At Cogema's seven open pit uranium mines which feed the Arlitt mill, the grades have run 0.3 percent with 2003 production at 1126 tonnes. At the two open pit uranium mines which feed the Akouta mill, grades have run at between 0.4 and 0.5 percent with 2003 production at 2017 tonnes. <br /> <br /> Niger's geology is pretty straightforward, according to North. Salt is very common but it doesn't last very long in stratigraphy and it escapes, North explained. "When it escapes, it forms walls and diapirs (an anticlinal fold where the salt has pierced through the more brittle overlying rock)." Oil exploration geologists pay attention to these because they tend to form permeability barriers to oil and gas deposits. North is interested in them for a different reason, "We noticed that the salt diapirs, where they escaped through the sequence in Niger, coincided with the distribution of uranium deposits."<br /> <br /> The Republic of Niger has North's vote on confidence. He has worked for the past few years as Chief Executive of North Atlantic Resources, which hopes to develop its Kantela gold property in Mali. Niger and Mali and demographically and geographical identical, he told us. North feels Niger is going to become more aggressive in developing its uranium properties. He talked about how the President of Niger told his minister of mines, "Get out there and advertise Niger as being open for business. We want people to come in here and invest. We want to give them mineral rights, and we want them to do what Mali is doing." From the looks of it, the first to jump on the Niger bandwagon were Northwestern Minerals and North Atlantic Resources, but they won't be the last.<br /> </div> <div class="source">Article Source: <a href="http://www.articlealley.com/article_61629_19.html">http://www.articlealley.com/article_61629_19.html</a></div> <div class="author"> <div class="authorOccupation"><strong>Occupation:</strong> Writer</div> <div class="authorBio">James Finch is a contributing editor for StockInterview.com and other publications. http://www.stockinterview.com</div> <div class="authorUrl"><a href="http://www.stockinterview.com" target="_blank">http://www.stockinterview.com</a></div></author> </body> </html>
Text Niger Uranium: Reward Potential Author: James Finch Named after the river which runs through it, Niger produces nearly four times the uranium currently mined in the United States. More uranium is mined in Niger than in Russia, South Africa, India, China, Brazil, Ukraine Namibia or Uzbekistan. In fact, if you added up the total amount of uranium mined in South Africa, China, India, Brazil, Czech Republic and the Ukraine for 2004, Niger would trump the combined production of those six countries. Until Dr. Jon North came along, uranium mining was pretty much monopolized by Cogema and a consortium that includes Spanish and Japanese interests. "This is the fourth largest uranium producer in the world," raved an excited Dr. North into his cell phone during our taped interview. "Niger has never had an entrepreneurial and nimble junior mining company ever explore for uranium. And this is the first one." North was talking about Northwestern Mineral Ventures. "Imagine if Australia, Canada and Kazakhstan never had a junior company looking for uranium. It's absolutely absurd to even consider the concept." The Republic of Niger supplies about 9 percent of the world's annual production to meet the growing need for uranium to fuel the world's nuclear reactors. According to the IAEA-NEA Red Book of 2003, the sub-Saharan Niger ranked #4 behind Australia, Kazakhstan and Canada for total uranium reserves. In the 2005 update, it fell to seventh place. It may be that this country is under-explored. In 1981, Niger produced a peak of 4366 tonnes of uranium. As with others, mining production plummeted with the spot price of uranium during the 1980s and 1990s. The slump hit the country hard because Niger depends upon uranium for more than 30 percent of its exports, more than $100 million. Five percent of the country's tax revenues come from uranium mining. Exploration licenses are valid for a period of nine years, three-year licenses which are renewable three times. The country's mining act allows companies to apply for a mining license, which can be granted for between 25 and 70 years. Uranium in the Republic of Niger is mined by open pit because of the sandstones. "These are redox deposits," North noted. "They tend to be associated with reduced layers and structures, such as the former salt diapirs and faults in the stratigraphy. At the time, we didn't really understand why we were doing that. We just knew there was an association with uranium deposits and these structures in Niger." At Cogema's seven open pit uranium mines which feed the Arlitt mill, the grades have run 0.3 percent with 2003 production at 1126 tonnes. At the two open pit uranium mines which feed the Akouta mill, grades have run at between 0.4 and 0.5 percent with 2003 production at 2017 tonnes. Niger's geology is pretty straightforward, according to North. Salt is very common but it doesn't last very long in stratigraphy and it escapes, North explained. "When it escapes, it forms walls and diapirs (an anticlinal fold where the salt has pierced through the more brittle overlying rock)." Oil exploration geologists pay attention to these because they tend to form permeability barriers to oil and gas deposits. North is interested in them for a different reason, "We noticed that the salt diapirs, where they escaped through the sequence in Niger, coincided with the distribution of uranium deposits." The Republic of Niger has North's vote on confidence. He has worked for the past few years as Chief Executive of North Atlantic Resources, which hopes to develop its Kantela gold property in Mali. Niger and Mali and demographically and geographical identical, he told us. North feels Niger is going to become more aggressive in developing its uranium properties. He talked about how the President of Niger told his minister of mines, "Get out there and advertise Niger as being open for business. We want people to come in here and invest. We want to give them mineral rights, and we want them to do what Mali is doing." From the looks of it, the first to jump on the Niger bandwagon were Northwestern Minerals and North Atlantic Resources, but they won't be the last. Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_61629_19.html About the Author: James Finch is a contributing editor for StockInterview.com and other publications. http://www.stockinterview.com http://www.stockinterview.com
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