Our operations

Cameco is one of the world's largest uranium producers, with assets on three continents. Nuclear energy plants around the world use our uranium products to generate one of the cleanest sources of electricity available today.

Our operations and investments span the nuclear fuel cycle, from exploration to electricity generation.

Nuclear Fuel Cycle:

MINING AND MILLING	Operations and investments
Mining There are three common ways to mine uranium, depending on the depth of the orebody and the deposit's geological characteristics: Open pit mining is used if the ore is near the surface. The ore is usually mined using drilling and blasting. Underground mining is used if the ore is too deep to make open pit mining economical. Tunnels and shafts provide access to the ore. In situ recovery (ISR) does not require large scale excavation. Instead, holes are drilled into the ore and a solution is used to dissolve the uranium. The solution is pumped to the surface where the uranium is recovered. Milling Ore from open pit and underground mines is processed to extract the uranium and package it as a powder typically referred to as uranium concentrates (U3O8) or yellowcake. The leftover processed rock and other solid waste (tailings) are placed in an engineered tailings facility.	SASKATCHEWAN McArthur River (69.805%)/Key Lake (83.33%) Rabbit Lake (100%) Cigar Lake (50.025%) (development project) Millennium (42%) (under evaluation) US Smith Ranch-Highland (100%) Crow Butte (100%) KAZAKHSTAN Inkai (60%) AUSTRALIA Kintyre (70%) (under evaluation)
REFINING
Refining removes the impurities from the uranium concentrate and changes its chemical form to uranium trioxide (UO3).	ONTARIO Blind River refinery (100%)
CONVERSION
For light water reactors, the UO3 is converted to uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas to prepare it for the next stage of processing. For heavy water reactors like the Candu reactor, the UO3 is converted into powdered uranium dioxide (UO2).	ONTARIO Port Hope conversion facility (100%) UK Springfields Fuels Ltd. (toll-processing agreement)
ENRICHMENT
Uranium is made up of two main isotopes: U-238 and U-235. Only U-235 atoms, which make up 0.7% of natural uranium, are involved in the nuclear reaction (fission). Most of the world's commercial nuclear reactors require uranium that has an enriched level of U-235 atoms. The enrichment process increases the concentration of U-235 to between 3% and 5% by separating U-235 atoms from the U-238. Enriched UF6 gas is then converted to powdered UO2.	US Global Laser Enrichment (24%)
FUEL MANUFACTURING
Natural or enriched UO2 is pressed into pellets, which are baked at a high temperature. These are packed into zircaloy or stainless steel tubes, sealed and then assembled into fuel bundles.	ONTARIO Cameco Fuel Manufacturing Inc. (100%)
GENERATION
Nuclear reactors are used to generate electricity. U-235 atoms in the reactor fuel fission, creating heat that generates steam to drive turbines. The fuel bundles in the reactor need to be replaced as the U-235 atoms are depleted, typically after one or two years depending upon the reactor type. The used–or spent–fuel is stored or reprocessed. Spent fuel management The majority of spent fuel is safely stored at the reactor site. A small amount of spent fuel is reprocessed. The reprocessed fuel is used in some European and Japanese reactors.	ONTARIO Bruce Power Limited Partnership (31.6%)

We have three business segments:

• uranium (mining and milling)
• fuel services
• electricity generation

Uranium

We are one of the world's largest uranium producers, and in 2011 accounted for about 16% of the world's production. We have controlling ownership of the world's largest high-grade reserves, with ore grades up to 100 times the world average, and low-cost operations.

Product

• uranium concentrates (U₃O₈)

Mineral reserves and resources

Mineral reserves

• approximately 435 million pounds proven and probable

Mineral resources

• approximately 254 million pounds measured and indicated and 318 million pounds inferred

Global exploration

• focused on four continents
• approximately 5 million hectares of land

Operating properties

• McArthur River and Key Lake, Saskatchewan
• Rabbit Lake, Saskatchewan
• Smith Ranch-Highland, Wyoming
• Crow Butte, Nebraska
• Inkai, Kazakhstan

Development project

• Cigar Lake, Saskatchewan

Projects under evaluation

• Inkai blocks 1 and 2 production increase, Kazakhstan
• Inkai block 3, Kazakhstan
• McArthur River extension, Saskatchewan
• Kintyre, Australia
• Millennium, Saskatchewan

Fuel services

We are an integrated uranium fuel supplier, offering refining, conversion and fuel manufacturing services.

Products

• uranium trioxide (UO₃)
• uranium hexafluoride (UF₆) (control about 25% of world conversion capacity)
• uranium dioxide (UO₂) (the world's only commercial supplier of natural UO₂)
• fuel bundles, reactor components and monitoring equipment used by Candu reactors

Operations

• Blind River refinery, Ontario (refines uranium concentrates to UO₃)
• Port Hope conversion facility, Ontario (converts UO₃ to UF₆ or UO₂)
• Cameco Fuel Manufacturing Inc., Ontario (manufactures fuel bundles and reactor components)
• a toll conversion agreement with Springfields Fuels Ltd. (SFL), Lancashire, United Kingdom (UK) (to convert UO₃ to UF₆ – expires in 2016)

We also have a 24% interest in Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) in North Carolina, with General Electric (51%) and Hitachi Ltd. (25%). GLE is testing a third-generation technology that, if successful, will use lasers to commercially enrich uranium.

Electricity

We generate clean electricity through our 31.6% interest in the Bruce Power Limited Partnership (BPLP), which operates four nuclear reactors at the Bruce B generating station in southern Ontario.

Capacity

• 3,260 megawatts (MW) (100% basis) (about 18% of Ontario's electricity)

We also have agreements to manage the procurement of fuel and fuel services for BPLP, including:

• uranium concentrates
• conversion services
• fuel fabrication services