France, Dec. 1 -- Uranium mining in Niger is at the centre of a standoff between the junta that took power in 2023 and nuclear producer Orano, which is 90-percent owned by the French government and has operated mines in Niger for decades.

The news was announced on state television Tele Sahel in a report Sunday evening citing comments by head of the junta General Abdourahamane Tiani.

Tiani, the report said, had claimed "Niger's legitimate right to dispose of its natural riches to sell them to whoever wants to buy them, under the rules of the market, in complete independence".

Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev said in July that Moscow wanted to mine uranium in Niger.

Since the junta took power in a 2023 coup, Niger has turned to R...