| Cigar Lake Mine | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
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Cigar Lake Mine
|
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| Location | Athabasca Basin |
| Province | Saskatchewan |
| Country | Canada |
| Owner | |
| Company | Cameco(50%), AREVA(37%), Idemitsu (8%), and TEPCO (5%) |
| Year of acquisition | 1981 (Discovery) |
| Production | |
| Products | Uranium |
| History | |
| Opened | 2013 (planned) |
The Cigar Lake Mine is the largest undeveloped high grade uranium deposit in the world, located in the uranium rich Athabasca Basin of northern Saskatchewan, 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 is expected to be delayed until 2011 at the earliest.[1]
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).[2][3][4]
As of December 31, 2009, the mine has proven and probable reserves of 557,300 tonnes at an average grade of 17.4% U3O8.[5] (209.3 Million pounds U3O8)
The mine is owned by Cameco Corporation (50%), AREVA Resources Canada Inc (37%), Idemitsu Canada Resources Ltd. (8%), and TEPCO Resources Inc. (5%). Cameco is the project operator.