VZCZCXYZ3362
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNM #0267 0661223
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 061223Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY NIAMEY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4165
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0657
RUZEHAA/CDR USEUCOM INTEL VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA PRIORITY 0028 C O N F I D E N T I A L NIAMEY 000267 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/05/2013 
TAGS:        
SUBJECT: PRICE OF NIGERIEN URANIUM 
 
REF: (A) NIAMEY 45 (B) 07 NIAMEY 983 
 
Classified By: Donald W. Koran, DCM, reasons 1.4 (b/d) 
 
 1. (U) the Government of Niger and the French energy company 
Areva signed an agreement on January 13 which among other 
things sets the price of the uranium (ref A).  At the time, 
the GON announced that the new price represented a 50 percent 
increase, but did not specify what the price actually was. 
 
 2. (C) A Ministry of Mines and Energy official reports that 
the new price is CFA 55,000/kg, or about $60/kg. 
 
 3. (C) Last August 1, Areva agreed to increase the price it 
paid for uranium from cfa 27,300 to cfa 40,000 (ref B).  The 
new price is therefore 37.5 percent higher than the price in 
effect before the new agreement, but over twice as high as 
the price that was in effect before last August. 
 
 4. (C) Comment: We suspect that the GON is reluctant to 
publicize the actual price because critics will compare it to 
the much higher world spot price, and claim the government 
made a bad deal. 
ALLEN