French facility to convert Kayelekera Uranium

Lotus Resources Limited, managers of the Kayelekera Uranium Mine in Karonga, has announced that Orano Chimie- Enrichissement (Orano CE) will accept its uranium ore concentrate for conversion at its conversion facility in Malvesi, France. According tohttps://www.orano. group/en, after the natural uranium ore extraction process, conversion is a key step in providing nuclear power plants with fuel adapted to the needs of nuclear reactors.

In the announcement dated April 1 2026, Lotus said it has been working closely with Orano over recent months as part of an iterative process to optimise and qualify its product. “Orano CE has agreed to accept Kayelekera’s product, with Lotus providing independent laboratory testing results as a condition for initial shipments to Orano CE. Orano CE is also currently reviewing the acceptance of material produced during the commissioning phase in Q4 2025,” it said.

The company also hinted that it remains on track to deliver nameplate production at Kayelekera in the second quarter of 2026, following consistent performance improvement through the second half of February and into March and its supply chains remain robust, as announced on March 25 2026. Lotus Resources managing director Greg Bittar has since said Orano’s acceptance of uranium marks a milestone for the Kayelekera restart, positioning Lotus as the next global uranium supplier. “The first export of uranium is subject to final product preparation, testing, acceptance, permits and shipping arrangements, all expected to occur in Q2 CY26.

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“Whilst we will continue working to achieve accreditation with the other two western converters, ConverDyn and Cameco, the ability to exchange or swap product between converters means an Orano CE account provides us with delivery flexibility across all contracts and for future sales,” he said. Earlier, mining expert Ignatius Kamwanje described the restart of Kayerekera mine as a major boost to the economy saying this will improve mining contribution to GDP. Chamber of Mines and Energy national coordinator Grain Malunga said they expect the mining sector’s contribution to GDP to grow to 12 percent by 2027 when Kayelekera and other two mines are in full operation.

Meanwhile on export of uranium, the company has said the route via the port of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania remains the preferred route to market. Natural uranium from Kayerekera will undergo conversion in France.

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