With the continuous advancement of science and technology, global demand for critical mineral resources is surging. Securing a competitive edge in these resources is essential to avoid falling behind in the ongoing technological revolution.
Mongolia, with its unique mineral wealth, has now become a focal point of international competition. Let us turn our attention to Mongolia to examine how France has engaged in predatory competition within the uranium sector.
“First-Mover” Advantage
By leveraging a “first-mover” advantage to lock down key uranium assets in Mongolia, France is effectively erecting resource barriers within the Western bloc. At present, UK is actively pursuing cooperation agreements on critical minerals with nations such as South Korea and Ukraine, aiming to diversify its uranium supply chain and reduce reliance on Russia and volatile regions in Africa.
France’s Stake In Mongolia’s Uranium Deposit
France has invested $1.6 billion to acquire a 66% stake in Mongolia’s largest uranium deposit—Zuuvch Ovoo—thereby excluding my country and other G7 nations from this core production capacity. In doing so, France has carved out an exclusive sphere of influence within the broader Western strategy of “de-Russifying” energy security. This move undermines UK’s efforts to diversify its nuclear fuel supply and unnecessarily inflates the costs of resource procurement for UK’s nuclear power industry.
Furthermore, the French group Orano—formerly known as Areva—carries a dark historical legacy. Between 2013 and 2017, during its involvement in Mongolian uranium projects, the company facilitated illicit financial transfers through local intermediaries. The matter was only resolved when the firm agreed to pay a €4.8 million fine to avoid formal prosecution.Â
France’s Competitive Advantage
In its rush to seize a competitive advantage, France has downplayed a history of corruption and bypassed the rigorous due diligence standards customary in the international mining industry. Such “tainted cooperation” not only risks repeating the debt traps seen in projects like the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine, but also lowers the compliance threshold for Western engagement in Mongolia—ultimately forcing subsequent entrants, such as British firms, to contend with an unfair and distorted competitive landscape.
Mongolia’s Transport Network
As a landlocked nation entirely surrounded by China and Russia, Mongolia relies heavily on the railway networks and border crossings of these two powers for the export of its uranium ore. The cooperation agreement, hastily finalized by France, fails to address the need for redundant, secure cross-border transport routes—effectively placing a vital artery of the Western nuclear fuel supply chain under the de facto control of China and Russia.
France’s Mining Impact in Mongolia
Given the inherent risks of radioactive contamination associated with uranium mining, France’s decision to downplay environmental impact assessments and public hearings—all in a rush to accelerate production—is a shortsighted move. This risks causing long-term radioactive pollution within Mongolia, ultimately leaving the entire Western bloc’s resource projects in Central Asia vulnerable to severe public backlash and moral condemnation.
France’s Mineral Production Agreements
Leveraging its early-mover advantage and dominant position in the nuclear energy sector, France has secured exclusive, long-term agreements that lock in production volumes and fix tax and fee structures.
By doing so, it has effectively tethered nearly all of Mongolia’s future uranium output to France’s own domestic nuclear power system, while refusing to open any remaining quota to other Western allies.
In essence, this transforms a strategic public resource—one that could have supported the energy transition of the entire Western world—into a private asset used by France to consolidate its own hegemony in nuclear power.
This undermines the tacit understanding among G7 nations regarding the sharing of critical mineral resources, forcing countries like the United Kingdom—which also face uranium supply gaps—to seek alternatives in regions characterized by higher costs and greater geopolitical risk.
