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AFRICA

Botswana and Tanzania lead African charge to cash in on growing uranium fever

Germany may be phasing out nuclear power but demand for uranium in the rest of Europe and Asia is set to increase, as industrialised nations scramble for sources of decarbonised electricity. In Africa, countries such as Tanzania and Botswana are trying to take advantage of the trend to get their uranium production off the ground and join Namibia and Niger in the select group of African countries that produce yelllowcake. [...] (1840 words)

Issue dated 13/12/2021 Reading time 8 minutes

The Rössing uranium mine in Namibia. © jbdodane/Alamy banque d'images

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Mining

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A-Cap Energy
AngloGold Ashanti
Anthony Khama
Areva
Barack Obama
China General Nuclear Power Group
China National Nuclear Corp
China National Uranium Corp
Cominak
Covid-19
Cyril Ramaphosa
Deep Yellow
Enusa Industrias Avanzadas
Grain Malunga
Gwede Mantashe
Hage Geingob
Harmony Gold
Hassane Barazé Moussa
Headspring Investments
Ian Khama
Imouraren Mine
Industrial Development Corp
Iran Foreign Investment Co
James Jones
Jogmec
Joyce Banda
Koeberg Nuclear Power Station
Lazarus Chakwera
Lotus Resources
McArthur River Mine
Mkango Resources
Mokgweetsi Masisi
Nicolas Maes
Orano
Overseas Uranium Resources Development Co
Paladin Energy
Rio Tinto
Rosatom
Rössing and Husab uranium mines
Seretse Khama
Somaïr
Swapo
UraMin
Uranium One
Viktor Polikarpov

Chakwera bets on rare earth boom to fix country's financial woes

Amid an increasingly tense economic situation, President Lazarus Chakwera has welcomed progress made by the Canadian firm Mkango Resources on its rare earths project in Malawi. The head of state had promised to revive the country's mining industry by 2025 after a period of no large-scale production since 2014. [...]

NIGER Mining 02/06/2022

Niger sows seeds for uranium boom

An uptick in global interest for nuclear energy has rekindled focus on Niger's uranium resources. But the production from a new mine is still a relatively long way off. [...]

BOTSWANA NAMIBIA Mining 16/05/2022

Diamonds link South African showbiz star and Botwsana business mogul

Ruri Diamonds is the result of an unlikely alliance between Botswana's business community and South African showbiz. The company's creation is further proof of the dynamism of the diamond sector in Gaborone, which is attracting investors from all over the world. [...]

Hasina Essack Ferris and Dalton Ashikoto, co-founders of Ruri Diamonds.

SOUTH AFRICA Mining 17/02/2022

Chinese shareholders seek to install ex-finance minister at helm of MC Mining

In early February, a rising player in South Africa's cash-strapped coal industry, Australia's MC Mining, had to contend with a boardroom drama. [...]

South African Brian Menell. © Facebook/africaminingforum

In Focus

RWANDA SOUTH AFRICA Mining 14/02/2022

Serial entrepreneur Brian Menell bets double on rare earth mining sovereignty

The mining and defence specialist and heir to the dynasty that co-founded AngloVaal has been investing heavily in "technology metals" with help from the US, worried about being left behind by China. As he had done in the 1990s with British and South African army veterans, who found the first private military companies to help his activities, Menell now has a retired US admiral and a former British army officer on board. [...]

BOTSWANA Mining 07/02/2022

Gaborone delights investors with new uranium mining legislation

New legislation enabling uranium to be mined without contravening Botswana's nuclear non-proliferation legislation should benefit the Letlhakane Uranium Project, which Australia's A-Cap Energy has been working on for more than 10 years. [...]

MALAWI Mining 01/02/2022

Albert Mbawala, presidential party treasurer, parliamentarian and businessman, takes on mining reforms

Mbawala, appointed mining minister in a major cabinet reshuffle, has been tasked with carrying out President Chakwera's plans for overhauling Malawi's mining sector, which is seen as crucial for the country's economic growth. [...]

AFRICA FRANCE 13/01/2022

A future French fund for investing in Africa's mines?

In order to ensure France's supply of critical metals, a report submitted to the French government on 10 January recommends that the country should create a fund to take minority shares in mines. It sees Africa as a key territory. [...]

TANZANIA Mining 23/12/2021

Billionnaire Rostam Aziz buys himself chunk of Williamson Diamond Mine

After buying Tanzania's biggest coal mine in November, the powerful businessman Rostam Aziz has chosen diamonds for December. [...]

SENEGAL Mining 02/12/2021

Haranga Resources woos stock market in wake of UraMin scandal

Haranga is trying to relist on the Australian stock exchange, banking on investor interest in its West African gold licences and in its Saraya uranium project. Saraya once belonged to UraMin, the company at the heart of a scandal involving Areva. [...]

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa speaking remotely during COP26 on November 4, 2021. © South African Government/Twitter

Spotlight

SOUTH AFRICA Energy Politics 16/11/2021

How will South Africa spend $8.5bn pledged by West to wean it off coal?

South Africa has been promised massive funding to reduce and then eliminate its dependence on coal. But there are doubts about how exactly the money will be spent. [...]

NIGER Mining 15/11/2021

A technique used in Kazakhstan may reduce uranium extraction costs

Upon British Curzon's suggestion, Niamey is looking into using ISR technology at uranium mines to take full advantage of the rebounding nuclear sector. [...]

Spotlight

NAMIBIA RUSSIA Mining 15/10/2021

Rosatom's uranium mine project creates a stir

After more than 10 years of exploring the uranium potential of Namibia's subsoil, the Russian state nuclear group Rosatom has applied for a permit to mine uranium in the east of the country, far away from the rest of the country's uranium operations. [...]

TANZANIA Mining 11/10/2021

Australian uranium producers take on Rosatom in its turf

Tanzania's nearly idle uranium sector could soon get a boost from Australian junior Gladiator Resources, which has plans to move in next to the only other explorer in the country, Rosatom. [...]

BOTSWANA Mining 23/09/2021

Gaborone hopes to cash in on uranium by wooing IAEA in Vienna

Botswana may have the largest uranium reserves in Africa, but many obstacles stand in the way of its ambition to produce yellowcake. The lack of an appropriate legal framework is one of them. The country's science minister used a visit to the IAEA to try to boost cooperation between his country and the organisation to get the country on the road to producing the prized ore. [...]

MALAWI Mining 22/04/2021

Mkango Resources hires General James Jones to curry favour with Biden

In recruiting the retired American general and former national security advisor to Obama, Canada's Mkango Resources is seeking to align itself with Washington's drive to emancipate itself from China's domination of the rare earths sector. [...]

Retired General James Jones, head of Jones International Group.

NIGER Energy Mining 01/07/2020

Niger fears Orano's plans to end uranium production could deal fatal blow to economy

The plans of France's Orano (ex-Areva) group to end uranium production at its Cominak mine in early 2021 look likely to cause massive unemployment, a pollution risk and a drastic reduction in state revenues, as well as major financial problems for state-controlled coal and electricity producer Sonichar. [...]

Ore storekeeper in the Cominak uranium mine (Niger).

MALAWI Mining 07/05/2020

Spiralling uranium prices trigger battle for control of Lotus Resources

A boardroom struggle has broken out at Australia's Lotus Resources, which has a controlling stake in the Kayelekera uranium project in Malawi, as the price of the mineral soars amid the global Covid-19 crisis. [...]

Kayelekera's Uranium mine in Malawi, own by the Australian company Lotus Resources.

On our other sites

Intelligence Online 29/06/2022

Athens ready to follow Washington's line on nuclear energy

Under pressure from the US, the Greek government led by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has instructed a group of Academy of Athens researchers to relaunch the nuclear energy debate to garner public support for the construction of new reactors. [...]

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A-Cap Energy
AngloGold Ashanti
Anthony Khama
Areva
Barack Obama
China General Nuclear Power Group
China National Nuclear Corp
China National Uranium Corp
Cominak
Covid-19
Cyril Ramaphosa
Deep Yellow
Enusa Industrias Avanzadas
Grain Malunga
Gwede Mantashe
Hage Geingob
Harmony Gold
Hassane Barazé Moussa
Headspring Investments
Ian Khama
Imouraren Mine
Industrial Development Corp
Iran Foreign Investment Co
James Jones
Jogmec
Joyce Banda
Koeberg Nuclear Power Station
Lazarus Chakwera
Lotus Resources
McArthur River Mine
Mkango Resources
Mokgweetsi Masisi
Nicolas Maes
Orano
Overseas Uranium Resources Development Co
Paladin Energy
Rio Tinto
Rosatom
Rössing and Husab uranium mines
Seretse Khama
Somaïr
Swapo
UraMin
Uranium One
Viktor Polikarpov

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