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Environmental assessment gets under way at NexGen’s Rook 1 project

29th April 2019

By: Schalk Burger

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

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The Rook 1 project, which is a proposed uranium mining and milling operation that will be 100% owned and operated by TSX-listed uranium mine development company NexGen Energy, in the south-western Athabasca Uranium Basin region in northern Saskatchewan, has been given permission to begin environmental assessments, NexGen said in a statement on Monday.

The assessment will be conducted through a coordinated process between the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), it said.

NexGen has also filed an initial licence application with the CNSC under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act to obtain a licence to prepare the site and build the project.

The mineral resource base for the project is the Arrow deposit – a land-based, basement-hosted uranium deposit, which is the largest development-stage uranium deposit in Canada.

The project, as proposed, will include underground and surface facilities to support the mining and processing of uranium ore from the Arrow deposit.

The main components included in the scope of the project for the environmental assessment include underground mine development, an on-site mill to process uranium ore, surface facilities to support the short- and long-term storage of waste rock and ore, an underground tailings management facility to store all mining tailings underground, water-handling infrastructure and an effluent treatment circuit, additional infrastructure that will include a camp for personnel, an airstrip for transporting personnel, supporting waste and water management facilities, a maintenance shop, a warehouse and offices.

NexGen CEO Leigh Curyer said that, with more than five years of detailed data on the project being collected, analysed andverified independently as well as working alongside local communities, the company is in a position to advance to the next stage of project development optimally.

“With the commencement of the environmental assessment, NexGen is conducting the required studies and building on comprehensive environmental baseline monitoring, which is already well advanced.”

Additionally, through NexGen's team of experienced professionals, the company has engaged experts to conduct and support these studies and to support the development and submission of the environmental-impact statement required by the province of Saskatchewan and the CNSC.

“Throughout the various stages of project development, NexGen is committed to the incorporation of innovative environmental designs and is committed to setting elite standards for environmental mine performance globally.

“NexGen is committed to achieving environmental excellence throughout all phases of project construction, operation and decommissioning.

“Baseline environmental studies to characterise features of the local and regional environment surrounding the project site have begun and the potential effects of the Rook 1 project will be comprehensively evaluated as part of the environmental assessment. The project features and operational controls necessary to ensure that the project will not have a significant environmental effect will be reflected in the final facility design,” said Curyer.

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

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