McArthur River / Key Lake
McArthur River Mine Animation See How Jetboring Works
Ownership McArthur River:
AREVA Resources Canada [30.195%]
Cameco Corporation [69.805%]
Ownership Key Lake:
AREVA Resources Canada [16.67%]
Cameco Corporation [83.33%]
Operator:
Cameco Corporation
McArthur River Reserves
(December 2004):
436.5 million pounds U3O8
with an average grade of 24.7%
Key Lake Reserves
(December 2004):
Depleted
McArthur River is the world's largest high-grade uranium deposit. Since it began operating in 1999, it has also become the world's most productive uranium mine, contributing approximately 20% of total global uranium mining production. The mine produced 18.6 million pounds of U3O8 in 2004. The ore is processed through the Key Lake mill.
McArthur River employs sophisticated remote controlled, non-entry mining systems to ensure that radiation exposures are kept well below limits set by regulators for nuclear workers. The ore is transported in slurry form by truck over an 80-kilometre all-weather road to the Key Lake mill for processing.
The 2003 water inflow was permanently sealed off in July 2004. Additional pumping capacity was installed and new procedures adopted to reduce the possibility of future incidents. Plans are being developed for the mining of a new underground area.
Environmental and regulatory processes are underway for both McArthur River and Key Lake to increase the annual licensed production capacity to 22 million pounds. A proposal to recover the uranium contained in byproducts from Cameco's Blind River refinery and Port Hope facility (both in Ontario) at the Key Lake mill is in the process of regulatory review.
Studies are being conducted at Key Lake on decommissioning of the former above-ground tailings management facility, as well as ways to improve the quality of mill effluent. McArthur River and Key Lake became certified to the environmental management standard ISO 14001 in 2003
McArthur River Mine Animation See How Jetboring Works
Ownership McArthur River:
AREVA Resources Canada [30.195%]
Cameco Corporation [69.805%]
Ownership Key Lake:
AREVA Resources Canada [16.67%]
Cameco Corporation [83.33%]
Operator:
Cameco Corporation
McArthur River Reserves
(December 2004):
436.5 million pounds U3O8
with an average grade of 24.7%
Key Lake Reserves
(December 2004):
Depleted
McArthur River is the world's largest high-grade uranium deposit. Since it began operating in 1999, it has also become the world's most productive uranium mine, contributing approximately 20% of total global uranium mining production. The mine produced 18.6 million pounds of U3O8 in 2004. The ore is processed through the Key Lake mill.
McArthur River employs sophisticated remote controlled, non-entry mining systems to ensure that radiation exposures are kept well below limits set by regulators for nuclear workers. The ore is transported in slurry form by truck over an 80-kilometre all-weather road to the Key Lake mill for processing.
The 2003 water inflow was permanently sealed off in July 2004. Additional pumping capacity was installed and new procedures adopted to reduce the possibility of future incidents. Plans are being developed for the mining of a new underground area.
Environmental and regulatory processes are underway for both McArthur River and Key Lake to increase the annual licensed production capacity to 22 million pounds. A proposal to recover the uranium contained in byproducts from Cameco's Blind River refinery and Port Hope facility (both in Ontario) at the Key Lake mill is in the process of regulatory review.
Studies are being conducted at Key Lake on decommissioning of the former above-ground tailings management facility, as well as ways to improve the quality of mill effluent. McArthur River and Key Lake became certified to the environmental management standard ISO 14001 in 2003
http://www.cri.ca/uranium/mcarthur.html