Global Atomic (TSX: GLO; US-OTC: GLATF) shares jumped on Wednesday after the company reiterated that its main uranium project, Dasa in Niger, is advancing on schedule and has strong government support.
In a corporate update, the Toronto-based miner said it had “many successful meetings” at the African Mining Indaba Conference in Cape Town this month to help fund the $308.3-million (C$441-million) capital cost project. However, it did note that since Donald Trump assumed the U.S. presidency, the market has been casting doubt on the company’s plan to land $295 million in debt to help fund the project.
CEO Stephen Roman told The Northern Miner last month he was optimistic about funding, starting production in early 2026 and about off-take agreements that so far include 8.8 million lb. of yellowcake over the first seven years of production with 90% going to U.S. utilities.
“African projects, I don’t think, will be affected by tariffs that would be imposed here in North America, and I know the utilities have been lobbying on our behalf to have uranium from Niger come into the U.S. market because they need it,” Roman said in a phone interview. “We’re in full construction mode. We want to get that up and running.”
Shares in Global Atomic Shares of Global Atomic closed 25% higher in Toronto on Wednesday at 60¢ apiece before sliding 6.9% to 54¢ at mid-Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $142.2 million.
Niger pivots
Global Atomic stressed that Dasa has “strong support” from Niger’s military-led government. The West African country’s mines minster reaffirmed at last week’s Mining Indaba that his government has “no intention to nationalize” the uranium project.
Niger’s military government took control in a July 2023 coup, ostensibly to fight jihadists who have killed more than 5,000 people over the past decade. American forces pulled out from a military base in Agadez near the project in September after the end of a 12-year agreement. Troops from France, the former colonial ruler, left early last year.
The government has pivoted away from the West and this month linked with neighbouring authoritarian regimes in Bukina Faso and Mali to leave the Economic Community of West African States for their own Alliance of Sahel States.
“The Niger government and military are managing well in the country right now,” Roman said. “The big impact of course has been on our share price and the cost to us from a financing point of view. It just make everything more expensive but we’ve been managing alright.”
It hasn’t been all smooth for Western companies in the country. Last year, the Nigerien government revoked the licence for fellow Canadian miner GoviEx Uranium’s (TSXV: GXU) Madaouela project, and the Imourare mine permit held by Orano, the French-state owned uranium company.
Roman downplayed how the government pushed Orano to keep the Somair operation running and out of care and maintenance as it had planned.
Fund raising
Global Atomic raised $40.3 million in a Toronto share offering last year and $35.6 million in a private placement in January to fund the Dasa project’s development until a debt deal with a bank is secured. Earthworks are nearing completion and civil works are underway, the company said this week.
Once in production, the proposed underground mine at Dasa is expected to produce 68.1 million lb. of uranium oxide (U3O8) over a 23-year period, based on a throughput of 1,000 tonnes per day.
The project comes as uranium spot prices have retreated from the highest prices in 15 years a year ago, down to $67.70 per lb. on Thursday. Utilities have adequate supply and the industry is adjusting power demand forecasts for data centres after DeepSeek in China launched an artificial intelligence engine with scant resources.
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