Newly-elected French President, François Hollande, has confirmed the forebodings of French anti-nuclear activists by coming out in favor of hastening the start of a new uranium mine in Niger. The mine at Imouraren would be the largest uranium mine in the world. Extraction was due to begin around 2013-2014 with an annual production of anything between 3,000 and 8,000 metric tons of uranium. Hollande was quoted as being favorable to moving up the start of production.