Niger, where the military has ousted the country's strongman, is the world's third largest uranium producer and is aiming to double production by 2012, but the west African country is also impoverished and famine-hit.
France, China and Canada will all be anxiously watching developments as they are prospecting and in some cases exploiting its uranium resources.
The key contract was signed in 2009 with France's state controlled nuclear energy company Areva to launch mining at the mammoth Imouraren deposit in the north of the country.
The agreement ensures that most of the country's uranium is extracted and bought by France, whose mining operations in its former colony began in the 1970s.
Areva's two main mines, Cominak and Somair, are near Arlit, some 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) north of the capital.
Announcing the latest contract last year, Niger and France said that when Imouraren goes on stream in 2012, Niger's uranium production would double, elevating the country to the world's second biggest uranium provider.
The strategic deal for France stalled when Niger's government and some media in 2007 accused Areva of backing Tuareg rebels in the north, where the uranium lies.
The Imouraren mine will be launched with an initial investment of more than 1.2 billion euros (1.6 billion dollars) and create almost 1,400 jobs.
Once up to full production capacity, it should be producing 5,000 tonnes of uranium a year for 35 years.
Following the coup, Areva urged its 2,900 staff in Niger to stay home.
China is also keen to exploit uranium in Niger and companies led by the China National Uranium Corporation began prospecting in the northern desert area in 2007.
China hopes to extract some 700 tonnes of uranium per year from the north's Azelik site.
As well as France and China, Niger has also given prospecting rights to companies from Australia and Canada.
The landlocked sub-Saharan country derives the bulk of its foreign income from uranium, but it remains one of the world's least developed nations, ranked last at 182 on the UN Human Development Index for 2009.
Sixty percent of the 15.2 million population live below the poverty line.
Apart from earnings from uranium and other minerals, most revenue comes from humanitarian aid and remittances of citizens working abroad, particularly in France.
Around 80 percent of the population live from subsistence farming, and there have been frequent famines in recent years.
Per capita gross national income stood at 330 dollars in 2008, according to the World Bank.
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