France's Orano Says Niger Junta Controls Uranium Firm

Orano suspended production by its local unit in northern Niger owing to what it termed increasingly difficult operating conditions and financial issues (Credit: AFP)

French nuclear group Orano said Wednesday that authorities in Niger had taken "operational control" of its uranium mining unit, in an escalating spat between the company and the country's military junta.

The junta, which took power in a coup in July last year, has vowed to revamp rules regulating the mining of raw materials by foreign companies in what is the world's seventh-largest uranium producer.