Cameco declares commercial production at Cigar Lake
TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canadian uranium major Cameco on Friday announced that it had declared commercial production at its Cigar Lake operation, in Saskatchewan, effective May 1.
The TSX- and NYSE-listed miner had suffered several setbacks in developing the mine over the years, as frequent flooding and problems with freezing the earth around the underground passages delayed production.
The Cigar Lake deposit occurs at depths of between 410 m and 450 m below the surface where water-saturated Athabasca sandstone meets the underlying basement rocks. Owing to geological conditions, it is necessary to freeze the deposit and surrounding rock to improve the ground stability and prevent groundwater inflows to the mine.
Mining was suspended in July last year to allow the orebody to freeze more thoroughly. Mining resumed in the first week of September, delivering ore to Areva Resources Canada’s McClean Lake mill.
Cameco noted that commercial production signalled a transition in the accounting treatment for costs incurred at the mine. During May, Cameco met all of the criteria for commercial production, including cycle time and process specifications. From May 1, all production costs, including depreciation, would be charged to inventory and subsequently recognised in cost of sales as the product was sold.
Mining at Cigar Lake began in March 2014, with the first packaged uranium concentrate available in October last year. The operation remained on track to achieve its 2015 production target of six-million to eight-million packaged pounds, on a 100% basis. Cameco expected Cigar Lake to ramp up to its full production rate of 18-million pounds by 2018.
The mine employed more than 600 highly skilled workers, with the majority being residents of Saskatchewan's north.
The Cigar Lake mine is 50.03%-owned by operator Cameco, 37.1% by Areva, while Idemitsu Canada Resources and Tepco Resources owned minority stakes. The McClean Lake mill is 70%-owned by Areva Resources Canada, while Denison Mines holds a 22.5% stake and Ourd Canada the remaining 7.5%.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation