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Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, September 27, 1999
Cameco Corporation announced today that it has filed a notice of intention with the Toronto and Montreal stock exchanges to make a normal course issuer bid. This will enable Cameco to purchase for cancellation up to 2,885,168 of its common shares, representing 5% of the 57,703,374 issued and outstanding common shares of the company. The period that purchases can be made begins on Thursday, September 30, 1999, and ends on Friday, September 29, 2000. Cameco will make only open-market purchases of its common shares and will pay the market price of the shares at the time of purchase. The purchases will be made by Cameco in accordance with the by-laws and rules of the Toronto and Montreal stock exchanges.
"We believe that from time to time, and particularly at present, the market price of Cameco's shares does not fully reflect the value of our company and of its prospects for the future," said Bernard Michel, chair, president and chief executive officer of Cameco. "The board of Cameco has concluded that initiating a share repurchase program now is consistent with our goal to create value for our shareholders."
At the same time, Cameco is actively pursuing its announced development plans at the McArthur River and Cigar Lake uranium deposits in northern Saskatchewan, the two highest grade and largest uranium deposits in the world.
The two new mines, which both require the deployment of innovative mining systems on an industrial scale, are anticipated to begin production, subject to licensing, late in 1999 at McArthur River and late 2002 at Cigar Lake.
This is the first time that Cameco has initiated a normal course issuer bid since it became a public company in 1991.
Cameco's shares closed on Monday, September 27, 1999 at $26.00 and have traded in a range of $40.50 to $24.05 over the past year.
Certain statements in this news release constitute forward-looking statements as defined in the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Cameco or of the uranium or gold business to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements. These factors are discussed in greater detail in Cameco's most recent annual information form and management's discussion and analysis on file with the Canadian provincial securities regulatory authorities and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
Cameco, with its head office in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is the world's largest publicly traded uranium producer. Its products are used to generate electricity in nuclear energy plants around the world, providing one of the cleanest sources of energy available today.
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For further information, please contact:
| Alice Wong Director, Investor & Corporate Relations Cameco Corporation Phone: (306) 956-6337 Fax: (306) 956-6318 |
Elaine Kergoat Manager, Media & Public Relations Cameco Corporation Phone: (306) 956-6315 Fax: (306) 956-6318 |