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Darwin, Northern Territory, March 30, 1999
Cameco Australia Pty Ltd. is pleased to announce a $4-million uranium exploration program in the Northern Territory and Western Australia for 1999. This represents a significant increase in investment in Australia since the company, a subsidiary of Cameco Corporation of Canada, initiated its first $0.5 million exploration program in Australia in 1992.
The $4-million program involves exploration licences on seven properties: two in western Australia and five in the Northern Territory. Its activities are managed from an office in Darwin, where ten people are employed.
"This program reflects our confidence in the future of the uranium industry and our commitment to establishing a strong presence in Australia," said Jim Marlatt, Cameco Australia's exploration manager.
"We appreciate the opportunities which have opened up in Australia during the past several years and look forward to continuing to pursue the sizeable mineral potential which this country has to offer," he said.
The geological similarities between the Northern Territory and northern Saskatchewan, Canada, where Cameco operates the world's largest, high-grade uranium mines, make Australia an attractive host country in which to extend the company's operations. Cameco Australia's $4-million 1999 exploration program now equals Cameco's uranium exploration program in Saskatchewan.
As a subsidiary of Cameco, Cameco Australia embraces its parent company's values: excellence, people, integrity and the environment. In Canada, Cameco is recognized as a leader in the employment of aboriginal people and through innovative practices, has fostered the creation of strong, viable, aboriginal businesses. Aboriginal participation in Cameco is broad, extending from the minesite to the boardroom. More than 40% of approximately 1,000 employees at Cameco minesites in Saskatchewan are of aboriginal descent and the chief of Saskatchewan's largest Indian band is a long-time member of Cameco's board of directors. In addition, of more than $150 million CDN Cameco spent in Saskatchewan on goods and services in 1998, almost two-thirds was purchased from northern-based enterprises.
Cameco Australia was created in 1992 to pursue Cameco's uranium exploration strategy in the country. Since that time, it has focused activities on acquiring licences and developing strong relationships with the communities and traditional landowners neighbouring its projects. Actual exploration field work began in 1992.
Cameco is a publicly traded company which is the world's largest uranium producer. It specializes in uranium extraction (both conventional mining and in situ leaching) and processing. The company, or its subsidiaries, operate conventional uranium mines in Saskatchewan, Canada, in situ leach uranium facilities in Wyoming and Nebraska, USA, uranium refining and conversion facilities in Ontario, Canada and a gold mine in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia. They conduct exploration for uranium or gold in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Australia.
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For further information, please contact:
| Jim Marlatt Manager, Exploration Cameco Corporation Pty Ltd. P.O. Box 35921 Winnellie, Northern Territory Phone: (08) 8947-3477 Fax: (08) 8947-3488 |
Elaine Kergoat Manager, Media & Public Relations Cameco Corporation 2121 - 11th Street West Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Phone: (306) 956-6315 Fax: (306) 956-6318 |