JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – TSX- and NYSE-listed uranium producer Cameco’s Cigar Lake project, in the uranium-rich Athabasca basin, is likely to meet its 2016 production outlook of 16-million packaged pounds of uranium concentrate (U3O8) – 8-million of which belong to Cameco – following approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) to increase the yearly licensed production capacity at the McClean Lake milling operation from 13-million pounds to 24-million pounds U3O8.
Ore from the Cigar Lake mine is milled and packaged at the McClean Lake operation, majority-owned and operated by Areva Resources Canada, which initially applied for the capacity increase at McClean.
The Cigar Lake mine is expected to reach its full yearly production of 18-million pounds in 2017.
The Cigar Lake mine is owned by Cameco (50.025%), Areva Resources Canada (37.1%), Idemitsu Canada Resources (7.875%) and Tepco Resources Inc. (5.0%) and is operated by Cameco.