What happens after mines close? The case of Uranium mine closure in Niger

Drawing on fieldwork in Airlift and over 10 years of experience in 'Mining in Africa', this presentation will discuss the impact of mine closure on communities, and the environment in Africa. It will also discuss gaps and opportunities that exist to address these issues. The discussion will be grounded in the resource curse discourse.

Specifically, the presentation will focus on the impact of the closure of COMINAK-a uranium mining company which operated in Niger for over 45 years. Whilst this operation contributed to the production of energy in France, over the period of the exploitation many local communities lived in poverty and without electricity. Today these communities are left with the social and environmental impact of years of extraction.

The argument of this discussion is that there is an urgent need for the African government to put in plan measures throughout the mining cycle to mitigate post-mining impacts. There needs to be adequate multidisciplinary collaboration to effectively address some of the challenges of mine closure. The presentation aims to invite participants to collaboratively think of potential solutions to mitigate issues related to mine closure in Africa so that communities are not left with the negative social and environmental impacts.

About the speakers

• Speaker: Dr Penda Diallo, Honorary Lecturer at the Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter, author of ‘Regime Stability, Social Insecurity and Bauxite Mining in Guinea: Developments Since the Mid-Twentieth Century.’
• Discussant: Dr Kialee Nyiayaana, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Port Harcourt
• Chair: Dr Albert Mbiatem, Lecturer, University of Buea and Peter Da Costa Post-Doctoral Fellow at the African Leadership Centre, King's College London

Please note, this event will not be recorded.