Cigar Lake mines first ore at high-grade uranium deposit

Cigar Lake Mining says it has successfully completed the first test mining of the Cigar Lake uranium deposit in Saskatchewan.

Using a remote-controlled boring machine, the company mined the orebody from below and extracted 50 tonnes of high-grade ore. At a depth of 480 metres below ground level, the ore was placed into shielded containers and transported to a concrete storage area on surface.

Cigar Lake says gamma radiation near the mining machine and ore containers was below expectations and alpha radiation was close to background levels. The ore mined had an average grade of 17% U3O8.

Remote-controlled mining may be the answer to increasingly stringent regulations to protect miners from radiation exposure. Recently proposed new limits, scheduled to be put into effect as early as next spring, would close existing mines that use conventional mining methods (T.N.M., Oct. 28/91). Cigar Lake, jointly owned by Cameco (TSE) (48.8%), Cogema Canada (36.4%), Idemitsu Uranium Exploration Canada (12.8%) and Korea Electric Power (2%), has been developing its test mine in northern Saskatchewan since late 1987. The mine is not scheduled to enter production until 1995.