Refining: Blind River

  • Cameco's Blind River Refinery, opened in 1983, is the world’s largest commercial uranium refinery.
  • The end product is uranium trioxide (UO3) powder which is transported to Cameco's Port Hope Conversion Facility. 
  • Cameco operates the ISO 14001 certified facility located in Ontario, Canada. 
Operation(As of December 31, 2016)
100% Cameco ownership
128 people employed
Production(As of December 31, 2016)
Licenced to 2022
24m kgU of licenced production capacity

Environment & Safety

Worker safety, environmental monitoring and proper decommissioning after project completion are of the utmost importance to Cameco.

See more

  • UO3 from Blind River is sent on for further conversion and processing at Cameco’s Port Hope facility in Ontario.  
  • Routine water sampling is part of a rigorous environmental monitoring program in place at each operation. 
  • The Blind River refinery is the world's largest with a capacity of 18 million KgU.  
  • Yellowcake from Cameco's North American mining operations is refined into a high purity UO3 at Blind River.