Mauritania Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in mauritania, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Mining
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Mining remains the backbone of Mauritania’s export economy, with iron ore and gold leading the way and uranium now moving toward development.  SNIM continues to invest in rail and port upgrades designed to increase throughput by the end of the decade – a program backed by multilateral financiers such as AfDB – with a focus on new locomotives and other infrastructure improvements. Gold production at the Tasiast mine operated by Kinross Gold Corporation has been strong following plant expansion, and the operator continues to prioritize reliability, tailings stewardship, and power efficiency, resulting in $1.5 billion in 2024 revenues paid to the Mauritanian government. A notable addition to the sector is the Tiris uranium project operated by Aura Energy in the far northeast. Aura has progressed through permitting (including the final material permit in July 2024) and advanced engineering and environmental work, positioning Tiris as Mauritania’s first uranium mine project. In mid-2025, the company announced the first long-term offtake agreement with a U.S. utility and a master spot sales agreement with a global trader, with sales to commence after financing and a final investment decision are complete.  Production is slated to begin later this decade.

Opportunities:  Immediate demand focuses on suppliers and service firms that can support SNIM’s rail and port expansion including locomotives, wagons, as well as plant reliability including tailings instrumentation, modular energy, and water solutions for mining operations. For uranium, near-term opportunities include EPCM support, mining and process equipment packages sized for calcrete ores, environmental and radiation safety systems, and logistics for yellowcake handling, as Tiris advances toward financing, FID, and first production, potentially by 2028.

Resources:  For future investors in the mining sector to better assess existing licenses and availability of non-exploited areas, the Ministry of Mines and Industry has issued an interactive map of the mining register which displays the status of licenses: Mining Portal.

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

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The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

Translation

The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

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