Cigar Lake steps closer to uranium production

The world’s largest and richest uranium deposit took another step closer to production. Cigar Lake Mining Corp., which owns the Cigar Lake project in northern Saskatchewan, says that environmental approval for an underground program has been received from the provincial government.

The underground program will include the sinking of a 500-m shaft and a trial of mining methods which will test the feasibility of mining the high grade ore. Mine surface facilities will be completed by year-end followed by shaft sinking in early 1988.

Also, the program will include a mining test of 5,000 tonnes of material during a 6-month period beginning in the last half of 1989, the company says. Capital costs of the 2 1/2-year program are estimated at $40 million. The deposit hosts reserves of 385 million lb of uranium oxide. Grades are known to range up to 14% in sections of the deposit.

Cigar Lake Mining Corp. is owned by the original property partners, Saskatchewan Mining Development Corp. (50.75%), Cogema Canada, (32.62%), Idemitsu Uranium Exploration Canada (12.87%) and Corona Grande Exploration Corp., (3.75%).