Projects
McClean Lake Project
McClean Lake Deposits and Mill
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Project Highlights
Annual licensed production capacity of 24M lbs U3O8
Operating licence for the McClean Lake operation renewed by the CNSC for a 10-year period in 2017, and amended in 2022 to include authorization for expansion of tailings management facility.
Processed ~18M lbs U3O8 from the Cigar Lake mine in 2022, under a toll milling agreement.
Denison monetized Cigar Lake toll milling cash flow in transaction with Anglo Pacific Group (“APG”) in 2017 for $43.5M
Historic production from McClean Lake deposits of ~50M lbs U3O8 from the Sue (A, B, C and E) and JEB deposits
Host to undeveloped McClean North, Caribou, Sue D and Sue E uranium deposits
Location
The McClean Lake property is located within the eastern part of the Athabasca Basin in northern Saskatchewan, approximately 26 kilometres west of the Rabbit Lake mine and approximately 750 kilometres north of Saskatoon.Access to the McClean Lake site is by both road and air.Goods are transported to the site by truck over an all–weather road connecting with the provincial highway system.Air transportation is provided through the Points North airstrip about 25 kilometres from the project site
Ownership
The McClean Lake projects are owned by Denison (22.5%) and its joint venture partner, Orano Canada (77.5%). Orano Canada is the operator/manager of the projects.
McClean Lake Mill
The McClean Lake uranium mill, one of the world’s largest uranium processing facilities, is currently processing ore from the Cigar Lake mine under the Cigar toll milling arrangement between the MLJV and the CLJV. Mill construction commenced in 1995 and ore processing activities reached commercial production in November 1999.Mining operations also commenced, and the following deposits have been mined out to date:JEB (1996 to 1997), Sue C (1997 to 2002), Sue A (2005 to 2006), Sue E (2005 to 2008) and Sue B (2007 to 2008). Various test mining programs from 2006 to date have also been conducted at McClean North.The site consists of the mill, a tailings management facility, administration offices and building, camp facilities, back-up power supply, water treatment plants and a host of other minor facilities. The site is connected to the provincial power grid and provincial highways.
As a uranium site, the CNSC permits the operations. The McClean site has a 10-year license for operations, expiring June 2027.
McClean Lake Deposits & Exploration
The McClean Lake uranium deposits lie near the eastern margin of the Athabasca Basin in the Churchill Structural Province of the Canadian Shield.The McClean Lake uranium deposits which include the Sue deposits (A to E), McClean deposits (North and South), Caribou deposit and JEB deposit are unconformity-related deposits of the unconformity-hosted variety.
Exploration activities including ground geophysics and diamond drilling were conducted by Orano Canada from 1994 to present.The majority of exploration has been focused on areas of known mineralization at McClean North/South, Sue Trend, JEB and the Tent Seal Trend. Other target areas on the property which have also been subject to ground geophysics and drilling include Candy Lake, Bena, Vulture and Moffat Lake. In 2002 the discovery of Caribou, the high- grade unconformity related uranium deposit was made approximately 2 kilometres northwest of the Sue C open pit. No other significant discoveries have been made since 2002. During the period 1994 to 2017 Orano Canada completed 95,933 metres of drilling in 496 holes.
Estimated Mineral Reserves and Resources
Deposit | Classification | Tonnes | Grade % U3O8 | M Lbs U3O8 | Denison |
McClean Ore Stockpile | Proven Reserve | 88,000 | 0.38 | 0.7 | 0.2 |
McClean North | Indicated | 205,800 | 2.8 | 12.4 | 2.8 |
Caribou | Indicated | 47,800 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 0.6 |
Sue D | Indicated | 122,800 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 0.6 |
Sue E | Inferred | 483,400 | 0.69 | 7.3 | 1.6 |
Notes:
- The Mineral Resource estimates were prepared for the Company by Scott Wilson RPA (now SLR Consulting Inc.) in accordance with CIM Definition Standards and NI 43-101.
- Mineral Resources are reported above a cut-off grade of 0.1% U3O8.
References
McClean Lake: Technical Report on the Denison Mines Inc. Uranium Properties, Saskatchewan, Canada, dated November 21, 2005, as revised February 16, 2006, by Richard E. Routledge, M.Sc., P.Geo of Scott Wilson RPA (now RPA Inc.)
McClean Lake - Sue D: Technical Report on the Sue D Uranium Deposit Mineral Resource Estimate, Saskatchewan, Canada, dated March 31, 2006, by Richard E. Routledge, M.Sc., P.Geo and James W. Hendry, P.Eng of Scott Wilson RPA (now RPA Inc.).
McClean Lake – McClean North: Technical Report on the McClean North Uranium Deposit Mineral Resource Estimate, Saskatchewan, Canada, dated January 31, 2007, by Richard E. Routledge, M.Sc., P.Geo and James W. Hendry, P.Eng of Scott Wilson RPA (now RPA Inc.), and subsequent revision by letter dated October 20, 2009 from Scott Wilson RPA.
The information of a scientific and technical nature has been reviewed and approved by a Qualified Person in accordance with the requirements of NI 43-101.
