Smith Ranch-Highland Map
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Mining at Smith Ranch-Highland uses an environment-friendly extraction method called in situ recovery (ISR).
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History Smith Ranch-Highland

2006 Smith Ranch-Highland Uranium Mine Receives ISO 14001:2004 Certification

History Highland

2000 awarded a certificate of honor from the Joseph A. Holmes Safety Association in recognition of production employees working more than 620,000 hours without a fatal or permanent disabling accident between January 1, 1991 and June 30, 1998
1998 achieved 10-year, 10-million pound U3O8 production milestone for ISR mining
1997 Cameco acquired Power Resources, Inc., the majority owner and operator of Highland
1988 began in situ recovery commercial production
1987 began construction of in situ recovery facilities
1984 discontinued conventional mining
1972 began conventional mining

History Smith Ranch

2002 Cameco acquired Smith Ranch and other Wyoming uranium assets from Rio Algom Mining Corporation and consolidated operations with Highland facility
1997 started in situ recovery commercial production
1996 began construction of commercial in situ recovery facilities
1984 started second in situ recovery pilot operation
1981 began first in situ recovery pilot operation
1978 placed underground operations on standby
1975 received underground mine permit
drill rig
A drill rig expands mining operations on the Highland property.

The Smith Ranch-Highland operation uses the in situ recovery (ISR) mining method. ISR mining produces no waste rock or tailings and results in minimal disturbance to the surface and underground areas mined.

Uranium at Smith Ranch-Highland occurs in sandstone aquifers as coatings on sand grains at up to 300 metres underground. Uranium is removed using a grid of injection and production wells.

The uranium is insoluble in the native groundwater. Small amounts of oxygen and carbon dioxide are added to the injection stream to dissolve the uranium. The uranium solution, less than 1/10 of 1% uranium, is then pumped from a production well to a satellite facility where the uranium is transferred to ion exchange resin beads similar to the sand from which it was extracted. The uranium-bearing resin is then trucked to a processing plant where it is removed from the beads, precipitated and dried to become the final product, yellowcake.

This is essentially a closed-loop recirculation system. Water from the production wells is reintroduced in the injection wells. Slightly less water is injected than withdrawn to ensure the fluids are confined to the ore zones intended for extraction. Monitor wells are installed to allow testing of groundwater quality above, below and around the target zones to ensure fluids do not move outside those areas.

Robert Pollo
A water sample is taken from a monitor well - one of thousands of water, air and soil samples taken annually.

The ISR extractive method is environment friendly because:

  • simplicity of the process ensures maximum worker safety and minimal exposure to radiation
  • ISR uses native ground water that is unusable for drinking, agriculture, or livestock because of its proximity to the uranium orebody
  • once operations are complete, groundwater is restored to meet federal and state regulatory standards preventing any contamination to adjacent aquifers
  • no waste or tailings facility required
  • surface lands are easily restored to original state

Health, Safety, and Environmental Policy

Cameco Production

  Cameco's
Share		 Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended
    Sept 30/08 Sept 30/07 Sept 30/08 Sept 30/07
   
Uranium production (in thousands lbs U3O8)  
  McArthur River 69.8%   2,088 2,604 8,471 9,194
  Rabbit Lake 100.0%   202 915 1,715 3,033
  Crow Butte 100.0%   148 173 435 554
  Smith Ranch Highland 100.0%   278 498 954 1,499
 
  Total 2,716 4,190 11,575 14,280
 
   
Fuel services (tU) (i) 100.0%   1,838 1,892 5,745 11,174
   
Gold (troy ounces)  
  Kumtor 100.0%   134,000 78,000 320,000 227,000
  Boroo 100.0%   52,000 59,000 145,000 196,000
 
  Total 186,000 137,000 465,000 423,000
 
 
   
(i) Includes toll conversion supplied by Springfield Fuels Ltd.
 
Uranium Operating Highlights
(100% basis except where noted otherwise)
        McArthur River/Key Lake*          Rabbit Lake
  2007 2006 2005 2007 2006 2005  
Tonnes milled 211,806 219,039 212,285 272,966 313,101 311,908  
Production (million lbs U3O8) 18.7 18.7 18.7 4.0 5.1 6.0  
Cameco's share 13.1 13.1 13.1 4.0 5.1 6.0  
Recovery (%) 98.4 98.8 98.9 96.9 96.6 97.0  
Average mill head grade (% U3O8) 4.07 3.91 4.00 0.69 0.78 0.88  
           Smith Ranch/Highland       Crow Butte  
  2007 2006 2005 2007 2006 2005  
Tonnes milled n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a  
Production (million lbs U3O8) 2.0 2.0 1.3 0.7 0.7 0.8  
Cameco's share 2.0 2.0 1.3 0.7 0.7 0.8  
Recovery (%) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a  
Average mill head grade
(% U3O8)		 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a  

* McArthur River ore is milled at Key Lake. Due to licence conditions, stockpiled low-grade ore at Key Lake is used to dilute the grade of McArthur River ore.
Cameco Web Site

December 4, 2008

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