Akokan is a mining town in the

Arlit Department Arlit is a department of the Agadez Region in Niger. Its capital lies at the city of Arlit. As of 2012, the department had a total population of 105,025 people. Communes It is divided administratively into the following communes: *Arlit *Danne ...

of the

Agadez Region Agadez Region is one of the seven regions of Niger. At , it covers more than half of Niger's land area, and is the largest region in the country, as well as the largest African state subdivision. The capital of the department is Agadez. Histo ...

of northern-central

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesArlit Arlit is an industrial town and capital of the Arlit Department of the Agadez Region of northern-central Niger, built between the Sahara Desert and the eastern edge of the Aïr Mountains. It is 200 km south by road from the border with ...

in the

Sahara Desert , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

, and roughly north of

Agadez Agadez ( Air Tamajeq: ⴰⴶⴰⴷⴰⵣ, ''Agadaz''), formerly spelled Agadès, is the fifth largest city in Niger, with a population of 110,497 based on the 2012 census. The capital of Agadez Region, it lies in the Sahara desert, and is also ...

. It is considered to be Niger's "second uranium town".

SOMAIR SOMAIR (Société des Mines de l'Air) is a national mining company of Niger in the mining area of its northern zone. Established in 1968, it started uranium mining at the Arlit deposit in 1971, mining 0.30 - 0.35% ore down to depth of depth. By ...

and

COMINAK COMINAK (Compagnie minière d'Akokan) is a national uranium mining company of Niger. It is a joint venture between the French company Areva NC and the state of Niger, which operates in the field of mining. COMINAK was established in 1974, followin ...

(Compagnie minière d'Akokan), run by Areva and the Nigerien state, operate uranium mines in the vicinity of the towns of Akokan and Arlit. In the maps of the area, Akokan is classified under "Mine - Agadez-Niger". The

Tuareg The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Alg ...

and

Toubou people The Toubou or Tubu (from Old Tebu, meaning "rock people") are an ethnic group native to the Tibesti Mountains that inhabit the central Sahara in northern Chad, southern Libya and northeastern Niger. They live either as herders and nomads or ...

are local to the area.

History

The Akokan deposit was initially prospected by a France-Japan-Niger tripartite affiliation in the early 1970s. In 1975, underground mining at Akokan was estimated to require over $100 million in investment. Today over 100,000 people live in Akokan and Arlit. Greenpeace has expressed concerns over the high radiation levels found on the streets of Akokan. Afasto, south of Akokan, was the site of newly discovered uranium reserves in 2001. The operational base of COMINAK mining company was established at Akokan, Niger, near

Arlit Arlit is an industrial town and capital of the Arlit Department of the Agadez Region of northern-central Niger, built between the Sahara Desert and the eastern edge of the Aïr Mountains. It is 200 km south by road from the border with ...

and a new mining town ship was built to house its offices and employees. The number of employees reported to be working for COMINAK is 1,150. Health and essential social services are part of the commitment by COMINAK to help and to improve living conditions for its employees and the local community. Akokan is Niger's "second uranium town" operated by

and

(Compagnie minière d'Akokan).

Infrastructure

The infrastructure facilities created in the town covers two field hospitals, network of well laid out roads (more than from

Tahoua Tahoua is a city in Niger and the administrative centre of the Department of Tahoua and the larger Tahoua Region.Tah ...

, electric power supply from the 16 MW captive coal based power station near Tchirozorine and transmitting power over a transmission line of ( to thertedAkokanea north of

), an airport and hotels for visitors. Akokan includes a mix of upscale living quarters and a shantytown, as well as hotels, a cultural hall and sports centers.

Environmental concerns

In both the towns of Akokan and Arlit, and also close to the mines, the tailings from the processed ores are reported to possess

radioactive Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consi ...

elements which have been harmful to the health of the people; its consequences are reported to have led to premature deaths of people including the employees. The matter has been a subject of serious debate and discussions between the Environmental Activists and the AREVA (the owner of the mining operations). Open cut and underground mines of Comac and Sumair, under operation for several decades of operations since the 1970s, of both the amount of

tailings In mining, tailings are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different to overburden, which is the waste rock or other material that overli ...

heaped up (totally unprotected to prevent health hazards) in the two towns has generated about 30million tons tailing and these are reported to be radioactive. Since 2007, following the protests, several remedial actions have been initiated by Medecins du Monde and Areva; a French lawyers' association is monitoring these management actions related to health and labour safety measures. The AREVA has averred with assurances that the “after effects of the mines” shall be addressed through “Sustainable Development Philosophy;".

Fossiliferous site

An armored, terrestrial, herbivorous reptile, ''Bunostegos akokanensis'' (“the lump-headed reptile of Akokan") was discovered near Akokan and named in honor of the locale.

References

{{Reflist Populated places in Niger