https://www.miningweekly.com

Production at world’s biggest uranium mine suspended indefinitely

26th July 2018

By: Mariaan Webb

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

     

Font size: - +

Initially intended to be a 10-month suspension, production at McArthur River in Saskatchewan – the world’s biggest uranium mine – and the nearby Key Lake mill has been extended for an “indeterminate duration”, Canadian uranium major Cameco announced on Wednesday.

President and CEO Tim Gitzel said that Cameco, which posted a $76-million net loss in the June quarter, had not seen the improvement needed in the uranium market to restart the two Saskatchewan mines, which were idled in January.

The suspension of production McArthur River and Key Lake will result in the permanent layoff of about 550 site employees, including those on temporary layoff since January, when the initial production suspension kicked in.

Cameco will keep about 200 employees on site during the care-and-maintenance period, which will incur costs of between $5-million and $6-million a month.

Employees at the head office will also lose their jobs, with about 150 positions being made redundant.

“It was a difficult decision to make, because of the impact it will have on our employees, their families, and other stakeholders, but we must take this action to ensure the long-term sustainability of the company. We thank our workforce for their hard work and dedication.

“We will not produce from our tier-one assets to deliver into an oversupplied spot market. Until we are able to commit our production under long-term contracts that provide an acceptable rate of return for our owners, we do not plan to restart,” said Gitzel.

Cameco will incur between $40-million and $45-million in severance costs in the third quarter.

In the second quarter, Cameco realised revenue of $333-milion, down 29% on the $470-million reported a year earlier. The group’s net loss widened to $76-million, from $2-million in the June 2017 quarter. The adjusted net loss narrowed to $28-million, from $44-million in the comparative period.assets.

The announcement was released after the market closed in Toronto.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

Comments

The functionality you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

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?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION