The U.S. government has approved up to $414 million in financing for Canadian miner Global Atomic's Dasa uranium project in Niger, the company announced on Wednesday. The project is described by the company as Africa's highest-grade uranium deposit. This investment could help the U.S. secure strategic uranium supplies, following its agreement two years ago to withdraw troops from Niger. Niger is the world's seventh-largest uranium producer and is currently in a dispute with Orano, the French state-owned miner that has long dominated the country's uranium industry.