MCCLEAN LAKE MINES

McClean Lake production properties

McClean Lake production properties

The McClean Lake mines consists of at least eight ore deposits classified as reserves or resources, five of which have been mined out with some of the ore still stockpiled on the surface. The JEB pit was converted into the Tailings Management Facility designed to receive tailings from Midwest and Cigar Lake ores in addition to the tailings from the McClean Lake deposits.

Mining of the Sue C ore body was completed in February 2002 and all of the ore was stockpiled on the surface. Approximately 24% more uranium than had been expected from the results of the surface drilling was recovered during the mining operations. Mining was suspended following completion of the mining of the Sue C deposit until the third quarter of 2005 when mining began on the Sue A, Sue E and Sue B deposits. Mining was completed at Sue A in the first quarter of 2006, at Sue E in the first quarter of 2008 and at Sue B at the end of 2008. The Caribou deposit is the next deposit to be mined by open pit. Mining of this deposit, which was originally expected to commence in 2009, has been delayed at least a year after a review of the project economics at current uranium prices. Ore from the Sue E, Sue A and Sue B deposits is stockpiled at the McClean Lake mill and will be processed through 2009 and 2010.

Low-grade special waste from the mining of the JEB, Sue C, Sue A, Sue E and Sue B deposits has been disposed of in the mined-out Sue C pit. There is also an agreement with the Cigar Lake joint venture to dispose of special waste from its mining operations in the Sue C pit. The costs of dewatering the Sue C pit at that time and the handling and disposing of the Cigar Lake wastes will be paid by the Cigar Lake joint venture.

Open pit mining at McClean Lake

Test mining had been successfully conducted on the McClean North deposit using hydraulic borehole mining methods being developed under the Mining Equipment Development Program (“MED”). Studies are now underway to review underground methods, as well as the MED method, to determine the preferred method for the exploitation of this deposit.


Last updated April, 2009.