Mining was initially classified as unprofitable in 2015 after the price of uranium collapsed as a result of the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan. Instead of mining the ore, which would be cheaper but would bring large amounts of overburden with radioactive decay products and highly toxic lead to the surface, Orano now apparently favored the so-called in situ method. A chemical is pumped deep into the rock to extract the uranium. A method that was already used in GDR times in Saxon Switzerland for uranium mining. For this, Imouraren would need fewer staff and fewer security measures.
If the mine comes online, it would be nearly three times the size of the Cominak mine south of Akokan, which closed in 2021. Orano could mine them for more than 40 years – at 5,000 tons of uranium per year. Now, however, it is completely unclear under the military junta whether the mine will ever be able to start.