Location Athabasca Basin Products Uranium Province Saskatchewan | Country Canada Year of acquisition 1981 (discovery) Opened 2014 | |
 | ||
Production 17,300,000 pounds (7,800 t)
of U3O8 (2016) Companies Cameco, Areva Resources Canada, Idemitsu Kosan, Tokyo Electric Power Company | ||
The Cigar Lake Mine is the largest high grade uranium deposit in the world, located in the uranium rich Athabasca Basin of northern Saskatchewan, Canada.
Contents
- Map of Cigar Lake Mine Division No 18 Unorganized SK Canada
- ReservesEdit
- OwnershipEdit
- Wolf attackEdit
- References
Map of Cigar Lake Mine, Division No. 18, Unorganized, SK, Canada
The deposit, discovered in 1981, is second in size of high-grade deposits only to the McArthur River mine. Other deposits, such as Olympic Dam in Australia, contain more uranium, but not at the significant grades of the Saskatchewan deposits. The average grade at Cigar Lake is in excess of 20%, whereas the world average is less than 1%.
Full scale construction began in 2005 with production originally planned for 2007, but the mine experienced a catastrophic water inflow in October 2006, which flooded the mine. A second inflow occurred in 2008 during the first attempt at dewatering the mine after sealing the initial inflow. Remediation efforts continued, and re-entry was successfully accomplished in 2010. Production has been delayed several times with the startup dates being announced for 2011, 2013, and 2014.
It has been suggested that the 2006 flood was a direct cause of the uranium bubble of 2007, which caused the natural uranium spot price to reach a record high of $137/lb ($300/kgU).
On March 13, 2014, ore production began at the Cigar Lake uranium mining operation in northern Saskatchewan. As of this date, the mining system and underground processing circuits are operational and ore is being transported to the McClean Lake mill operated by AREVA Resources Canada Inc. which is located 70 km (43 mi) northeast of the minesite.
ReservesEdit
As of December 31, 2016, the mine has Proven and Probable Reserves of 613,400 tonnes at an average grade of 15.9% U3O8 for 215.0 million pounds U3O8, and Measured and Indicated Resources 237,000 tonnes at an average grade of 16.24% U3O8 for 84.4 million pounds U3O8.
OwnershipEdit
The mine is owned by Cameco Corporation (50.03%), AREVA Resources Canada Inc (37.1%), Idemitsu Canada Resources Ltd. (7.9%), and TEPCO Resources Inc. (5%). Cameco is the project operator.
Wolf attackEdit
On August 29, 2016, an unidentified young contract worker on his midnight break was jumped and mauled by a lone wolf less than 100 m (330 ft) from Cigar Lake's main campsite. A nearby female security guard frightened the wolf away, administered first aid, and called for an air ambulance which airlifted him 675 km (419 mi) to a hospital in Saskatoon where he had his recovery. After the attack, authorities ordered that area wolves be shot, that food disposal systems and fencing be inspected, and that staff be educated.