Midwest to go ahead (December 06, 2007)

The partners in the Midwest uranium joint venture in northern Saskatchewan have taken a formal production decision and plan to bring the project into production in 2011.

Areva (ARVCF-O), Denison Mines (DML-T, DNN-X), and OURD Canada will now seek full regulatory approval to begin work in mid-2009. The project has a reserve of 360,000 tonnes grading 4% U₃O₈ and would produce about 14,000 tonnes U₃O₈ over a two-and-a-half year life, but a number of satellite deposits could be developed to extend the project further.

Midwest ore would be hauled to the McClean Lake mill, 20 km away, on a private haul road. A previous Midwest development proposal had been rejected partly because it required use of a public road (Saskatchewan 905) to transport high-grade uranium ore.

The project has a capital cost of $400 million, including a $100-million expansion of the McClean mill. It would have a workforce of 150. Areva owns 69% of the project, Denison 25%, and OURD the rest.