Two visits in one month apart. From Thursday June 29 to Friday June 30, the French Foreign Minister, Catherine Colonna, visited Mongolia. On May 21, at the bend of a G7 summit organized in Japan, Emmanuel Macron had already made a short detour. It was the first visit ever made by a French president to this semi-desert state located between China and Russia.
The objective is clear, for the government: to diversify as much as possible the sources of supply of uranium, fuel necessary for the existing nuclear fleet in France. The Orano group (ex-Areva), of which the French State is the majority shareholder, already holds three operating licenses for deposits in Mongolia.
From now on, the discussions focus more specifically on the distribution of the ore to be extracted and the marketing rights. A deal is ” under negotiation “ with the Mongolian executive. The objective being to“finish next fall”, according to a diplomatic source in the ministry of Catherine Colonna. A reflection is also underway, moreover, on so-called critical metals, including lithium.
“Strategic Autonomy”
Orano is in partnership with Mon-Atom, a Mongolian public company. The French owns 66% of the joint venture Baadrakh Energy, with this local partner. At the end of the negotiations, two thirds of the uranium extractions could thus be marketed by Orano. “Commercial rights and financing will depend on the terms of the investment agreement,” explains Mr. Thoumyre, Orano’s representative in Mongolia. Expenditure will exceed one billion euros, according to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
If confirmed, this project would make it possible to“extract very large quantities of uranium, which would strengthen our strategic autonomy”, continues the ministry. It would also be a question of responding indirectly to the criticisms of Greenpeace. In March, the anti-nuclear NGO pointed out in a report France’s use of enriched uranium from Russia – nuclear power not being affected by European sanctions against Moscow since the start of the war in Ukraine. .
Orano began its exploration operations in the Gobi Desert in 1997. The Zuuvch Ovoo deposit, discovered in 2010 and whose exploitation is hoped for 2028, would allow the production of 2,500 tonnes of uranium per year for thirty years, according to the company. That is 100,000 tons in total, the distribution of which with Mon-Atom remains to be specified. In absolute, “this mine could meet the needs of the French nuclear fleet for ten years”says Olivier Thoumyre.
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