Mining
The Cigar Lake site is located about 660 kilometres north
of Saskatoon.
The orebody is located at a depth of 450 metres between the Athabasca
sandstone formation and the underlying Precambrian basement rocks.
The orebody stretches for two kilometres on an east-west axis.
The orebody will be frozen before mining. This will improve ground
conditions, prevent water inflow and stop radon migration. The ore
will be removed from beneath the orebody using pressurized water through a process called jet boring. Mined out cavities will be backfilled.
Ore will be ground and thickened in underground processing circuits and pumped to
the surface in slurry form. At the surface, the ore will be loaded in special containers and transported by truck to milling facilities.
Milling
Initially Cigar Lake ore will be processed at the mill located at AREVA's McClean Lake operation, 70 km to the northeast. As Cigar Lake production ramps up to full capacity, about half of the uranium will be transported as a solution to Cameco's Rabbit Lake operation for final processing after initial processing at McClean Lake. Using existing mills will reduce capital costs substantially and eliminate the need for a separate tailings facility. Wastes from the Cigar Lake ore will be processed and managed at the mill sites.
Mining and underground processing of Cigar Lake ore (4 minute animation).
Worker Safety
A non-entry mining method has been selected, along with wet mining
processes. These are enclosed systems which allow for containment
of dust and radon and provide shielding against gamma rays. Operators
never enter the orebody or have direct contact with the ore.
Ventilation for the underground and surface facilities will bring
clean fresh air to working areas and flush airborne radioactivity
from the processing equipment.
Decommissioning
An Environmental technician enters data from a water sample taken near the Cigar Lake site.
Assuming no other reserves are found, all surface buildings will
be dismantled and disposed of during decommissioning. Some equipment
or salvageable material will be reused or recycled. Contaminated
material will be disposed of either in the underground mine or the
tailings pit. The underground mine will be allowed to flood and
its accesses sealed.
Areas disturbed by the mine and mill activities will be reclaimed,
restoring the land to conditions close to those prior to operations.
Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Policy
At the end of the shift, miners leave the elevator, called a cage, which is used to transport them between surface and underground.
Employment
Construction at Cigar Lake is expected to generate about 500
jobs.
After construction and during production, Cigar Lake will have
a permanent workforce of about 250 people.
To the extent possible, Cigar Lake will be built by northern people,
as McArthur River was.
Cameco strives to the greatest extent possible, to use residents
of the north to staff its operations and this practice will continue
with Cigar Lake.
Processing Cigar Lake uranium will also support the Rabbit Lake
and McLean Lake operations. This means that Cigar Lake is essential
to maintaining employment for nearly 500 people - half of which
will be from the north.
These combined project activities will allow Cigar Lake to move
to production, bringing the potential of 20 to 30 years of
employment and business opportunities.
Cameco Web Site
December 3, 2008
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Such factors include among others: volatility and sensitivity to
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