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BUSINESS OVERVIEW

Overview

Mineral Reserves and Resources

Proven and Probable

465 million lbs

Measured and Indicated

244 million lbs

Inferred

287 million lbs

2012 Production

21.9 million lbs

McArthur River/Key Lake

Northern Saskatchewan, Canada

2012 Production

13.6 million lbs (our share)

Ownership: 70%, operator

Overview

McArthur River is the world's largest, high-grade uranium mine, and Key Lake is the largest uranium mill in the world. Ore grades at the McArthur River mine are 100 times the world average, which means it can produce more than 18 million pounds per year by mining only 150 to 200 tonnes of ore per day. McArthur River is one of our three material uranium properties.

Update

In 2012, McArthur River continued its record of reliable production, beating its target by 1%. The Key Lake mill contributed to the success of the operation with record performance as a result of our mill revitalization program, which will continue in 2013. We will also continue to advance our expansion plans at McArthur River to increase production to 22 M lbs (100% basis) per year by 2018. As part of the expansion, we will continue working to develop zone 4 north to bring it into production for 2014.


Rabbit Lake

Northern Saskatchewan, Canada

2012 Production

3.8 million lbs

Ownership: 100%, operator

Overview

The Rabbit Lake operation, which opened in 1975, is the longest operating uranium production facility in North America, and the second largest uranium mill in the world. It has produced over 186 million pounds over the last three decades and currently has sufficient mineral reserves to continue production through to 2017.

Update

2012 production at Rabbit Lake was slightly above plan, and we replaced key pieces of mill infrastructure. We also continued our underground drilling reserve replacement program, which returned promising results. In 2013, we will progress with reserve replacement drilling. We also plan to expand the existing tailings management by the end of 2017 to have the capacity to process ore from other potential sources and to support the extension of Rabbit Lake's mine life.


US Operations

Smith Ranch-Highland - Wyoming, US

Crow Butte - Nebraska, US

2012 Production

1.9 million lbs

Ownership: 100%, operator

Overview

Our US operations at Crow Butte and Smith Ranch-Highland are long-established in situ recovery operations. Smith Ranch-Highland is the largest uranium production facility in the US.

Update

Production was lower than plan for 2012 due to the lengthened review process to obtain regulatory approvals. However, approval for one wellfield was received, which came into full production in August. We also started construction for the satellite plant and first wellfield at North Butte, and expect to begin production in 2013. We will continue the permitting process for the rest of our expansion plans throughout 2013.


Inkai

Kazakhstan

2012 Production

2.6 million lbs (our share)

Ownership: 60%

Overview

Inkai is a joint venture that gives us access to a significant uranium deposit located in Kazakhstan. There are two production areas (blocks 1 and 2) and an exploration area (block 3). The operator is Joint Venture Inkai Limited Liability Partnership, which we jointly own (60%) with Kazatomprom (40%). Inkai is one of our three material uranium properties.

Update

2012 production was in line with our target as we continued to bring on additional wellfields to maintain new, typically higher grade wellfields in the production mix. In 2013 we plan to continue to pursue government approval to implement production increases to 5.2 million pounds per year (100% basis) from blocks 1 and 2. At block 3, we plan to complete delineation drilling, complete construction of the test leach facility and test wellfields, and start operation of the test wellfields.


Cigar Lake

Northern Saskatchewan, Canada

Development Project

Ownership: 50%, operator

Overview

Cigar Lake is the world's second largest high-grade uranium deposit, with grades that are 100 times the world average. Currently under development, and expected to begin production this year, it is one of our three material uranium properties. We expect it will provide us with 9 million lbs of uranium per year once it is in full production.

Update

In 2012 we continued to progress toward first production, achieving a number of milestones such as completing the sinking of shaft 2 to its final depth and beginning infrastructure installation, completing the Seru Bay pipeline, and commissioning the jet boring mining system to begin underground testing in waste rock. We expect to bring the mine into production in mid-2013 and produce the first packaged pounds from AREVA's McClean Lake mill in Q4 of 2013.


Millennium

Northern Saskatchewan, Canada

Project Under Evaluation

Ownership: 70%, operator

Overview

Millennium is a uranium deposit that could be mined in the future and utilize our excess milling capacity. It has been delineated through geophysical survey and drilling work.

Update

In 2012 we acquired additional interest in the project, increasing our ownership to 70%. We also continued to work on the environmental assessment, completed a summer drill program that increased our indicated and inferred mineral resource estimate, and carried out additional design work to advance the project. In 2013 we will continue to advance the project toward a development decision at a pace aligned with market opportunities.


Kintyre

Western Australia

Project Under Evaluation

Ownership: 70%, operator

Overview

Kintyre is an advanced uranium exploration project in Western Australia that is amenable to open pit mining techniques. We acquired the project in 2008 and are the operator.

Update

In 2012 we completed the prefeasibility study and signed a mine development agreement with the Martu. We also carried out further exploration drilling to test for other potential satellite deposits, though no additional resources were identified. In 2012 Q3, we decided not to advance to a feasibility study until market conditions improve. In 2013 we will continue the value engineering and exploration drilling.


Yeelirrie

Western Australia

Project Under Evaluation

Ownership: 100%, operator

Overview

Yeelirrie is a near-surface calcrete-style deposit that is amenable to open pit mining techniques and is one of Australia's largest undeveloped uranium deposits. We acquired this project from BHP Billiton at the end of 2012.

Update

In 2013, we expect to conduct a full document review of Yeelirrie and complete a mineral resource estimate in accordance with NI 43-101. We will advance the development of this project at a pace aligned with market opportunities, using our stage gate process.


Caution about Forward-Looking Information

Please click here for additional information about the assumptions applied in making the forward-looking statements on this page and the factors that could cause results to differ materially.

© 2013 Cameco Corp.