Mineral resources company GoviEx Uranium and its subsidiary GoviEx Niger have started arbitration proceedings against Niger under the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes Between States and Nationals of Other States (ICSID).

The companies started the arbitration pursuant to a clause set out in the Mining Convention signed by GoviEx Niger and the State in May 2007.

In July, the Niger Ministry of Mines informed GoviEx Niger of its decision to deprive the company of its rights under a mining permit granted to GoviEx Niger for the Madaouéla uranium project. The Niger Council of Ministers later that month issued three decrees withdrawing the mining permit and abrogating the decrees granting the mining permit and approving the mining convention, GoviEx points out.

GoviEx and its subsidiary consider the withdrawal decision and withdrawal decrees as a breach of the State’s obligations under the Mining Convention, the Mining Code and the Niger Civil Code.

Over the last year and a half, the companies received expressions of interest in excess of $200-million for project-related debt finance, started social and environmental due diligence with a prospective lender, updated the project’s environmental- and social-impact assessment, and started front-end engineering design and initial groundworks, including the construction of an access road, GoviEx outlines.

It posits that, with the recent recovery in uranium prices, the project was poised for development and the companies had started to advance despite the political changes in Niger since the coup d’état of July 2023.

GoviEx asserts that the State’s withdrawal of its rights to the project will have a negative impact on the economic and social development of the region.

The company and its subsidiary have attempted to settle their dispute with the State amicably, including through initiating a local administrative recourse before the Niger President. It states, however, that the State has not been willing to engage.

“The companies strongly believe they are entitled to be reinstated in their rights to the project and/or be awarded monetary compensation as a result of the State’s conduct in relation to the project and are accordingly pursuing a legal remedy under the Mining Convention to safeguard their rights.

“The companies may, as required, pursue other available remedies, including international arbitration under the 2019 memorandum of understanding signed by GoviEx Niger and the State.”

Notwithstanding the start of this arbitration, the companies say they remain committed to engaging constructively with the State to resolve the dispute.