Orano - Annual Activity Report 2024 33 SITUATION AND ACTIVITIES OF THE COMPANY AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES DURING THE PAST FINANCIAL YEAR 2 The group’s businesses Orano has a diversified portfolio of assets and resources, both in terms of geography and extraction technology. This diversity is an asset that enables Orano to guarantee long-term security of uranium supplies to its utility customers. 90% of the Mining business’s employees are located outside France, and 98% of employees are local and work in their country of origin. The uranium production sites are located in three countries: Canada, Niger (1) and Kazakhstan. Orano Mining conducts its activities responsibly, following the principles of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) and its own CSR policy. Orano also supports the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). For more information on Orano Mining’s societal actions, please refer to Chapter 4 Sustainability statement or Orano Mining’s corporate responsibility report, available on the group’s website (www.orano.group). Canada Orano has operated in Canada through its different mining operations for more than 60 years. Canadian production comes from the McArthur River and Cigar Lake mines operated by Cameco. These sites are located approximately 700 kilometers north of Saskatoon in Saskatchewan Province. The group also conducts significant exploration work in the Athabasca basin and has majority equity interests in several deposits, particularly in the McClean Lake region, in order to guarantee continuity of supply to its treatment plant over time. In total, Orano is involved in some 50 exploration projects. Additional studies are required to determine the development schedules for these deposits, which will depend on uranium market conditions. McArthur River is owned by a joint venture between Cameco Corporation (69.805%) and Orano (30.195%). McArthur’s ore is processed at the Key Lake plant (83.3% owned by Cameco and 16.7% by Orano). The restart of the McArthur mine and the Key Lake plant after nearly five years of cocooning has been effective since November 2022. Production in 2024 amounted to 7,815 metric tons of uranium (20.3 million pounds of U3O8) up from the target of 18 million pounds of U3O8 (6,900 metric tons of uranium) budgeted thanks to the use of ore inventories and operational performance initiatives at the Key Lake plant. Orano’s partner Cameco also continues to assess the work and investments required to take a decision whether to increase production at McArthur River/ Key Lake up to its authorized annual capacity of 25 million pounds of U3O8 (nearly 9,600 tU) or to an intermediate level between its planned annual production and its authorized annual capacity of 25 million pounds of U3O8. Since May 2022, the Cigar Lake mine has been owned by a JV composed of Cameco Corporation (54.547%), Orano (40.453%), and TEPCO Resources Inc. (5%). This deposit, the richest in the world, is mined by Cameco. All the ore extracted from the Cigar Lake mine is then processed in the McClean Lake plant, operated by Orano (77.5%-owned by Orano, with Denison Mines Ltd as a partner with 22.5%) and whose design enables the processing of very high-grade ores (>15%). The Cigar Lake mine and the McClean plant have a production capacity of 6,900 metric tons of uranium (or 18 million pounds of U3O8 ) per year. Production in 2024 amounted to 6,512 metric tons of uranium (or 16.9 million pounds of U3O8 ), less than the 6,900 metric tons of uranium (18 million pounds of U3O8 ) forecast in the budget following operational difficulties. In February 2024, the Board of Directors of Orano approved an investment in the Cigar Lake mine extension project. The addition of extension reserves extends the life of the mine until 2036. Orano Canada and its partner in the McClean Lake JV, Denison Mines Ltd, are developing an innovative mining method called “SABRE” (Surface Access Borehole Resource Extraction) in order to make small, difficult-to-access high-grade deposits in the Athabasca basin exploitable. In January 2024, Orano Canada and its partner Denison Mines announced their decision to resume extraction operations at McClean Lake by using for the first time on an industrial scale the innovative mining extraction method SABRE. The Cluff Lake mine was operated by the Orano subsidiary in Canada for 20 years and ceased to produce uranium in 2002. The last facilities were dismantled in 2014. In March 2023, the Canadian nuclear safety authority (CNSC) approved the request to revoke the operating license for the Cluff Lake mine and plant, allowing the site to be transferred to the Province of Saskatchewan. This transfer became effective in May 2024. Redesigned and planted by the group, the Cluff Lake site has been completely decommissioned and open to the public since 2013. Today, it is considered a model for the redevelopment of a modern uranium mine. Niger (1 ) Exploration teams from the CEA detected the presence of uranium in Niger at the end of the 1950s. The uraniferous area is located west of the Aïr granite massif near the city of Arlit. Orano has three subsidiaries, namely Somaïr, Cominak, and Imouraren. Somaïr (Société des mines de l’Aïr), created in 1968, currently employs nearly 750 people and an equivalent number of subcontractors. Orano Mining holds 63.40% of the shares and SOPAMIN (Société du patrimoine des mines du Niger) holds 36.60% on behalf of the State of Niger. Given the current characteristics of the processed ore, Somaïr’s production capacity is in the region of 2,000 metric tons per year (959 metric tons of uranium produced until November 2024). The obstacles placed by the Nigerien government on the sale of production have considerably worsened Somaïr’s financial position. Despite the efforts made by Orano, all the alternative export proposals made to the Nigerien authorities have remained unanswered. The resolution adopted by the Board of Directors of Somaïr on November 12, 2024 to suspend expenses related to production activities in order to prioritize the payment of salaries and preserve the integrity of the production plant was deliberately prevented by the State of Niger and could not be applied. In fact, loss of operational control was recognized by the Orano group on December 4, 2024. (1) The group confirmed the loss of operational control over its subsidiaries in Niger from December 2024. For more information on the situation in Niger, see the introductory box in Section 2.1.2.1.
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