Cigar Lake
- Cigar Lake is the world's highest grade uranium mine and is located in northern Saskatchewan, Canada.
- Since commissioning in 2014, the site has produced a total of 105 million pounds (100% basis). Commercial operation began in May 2015.
- As the operator, Cameco developed an innovative jet-boring technique specifically for this challenging deposit.
- Cigar Lake's ore is processed 70 km northeast, at the McClean Lake mill, operated by Orano.
2023 Q3 Update
Production
Cigar Lake Production
Cameco's Share (million lbs)
| Three months ended September 30, 2023 |
Nine months ended September 30, 2023 |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2022 | Change | 2023 | 2022 | Change |
2023 Plan |
| 1.4 | 2.0 | (30)% | 5.6 | 6.6 | (15)% |
8.9* |
* During the third quarter, we updated our Cigar Lake production forecast to up to 16.3 million pounds (100% basis) in 2023 (previously 18 million pounds).
Total packaged production from Cigar Lake was 2.6 million pounds (1.4 million pounds our share) in the third quarter of 2023 compared to 3.6 million pounds (2.0 million pounds our share) in the third quarter of 2022. Our share of production in the first nine months of 2023 was 5.6 million pounds compared to 6.6 million pounds in the first nine months of 2022.
As announced on September 3, 2023, we now expect production of up to 16.3 million pounds (up to 8.9 million pounds our share) at Cigar Lake in 2023 (previously 18.0 million pounds or 9.8 million pounds our share). In our second quarter MD&A we noted that productivity had been impacted as we completed development and commissioning activities and achieved first production from a new mining area. We had expected to recover from these delays in the second half of the year. However, in the third quarter, we determined maintenance work was required on one of the underground circuits, which had not been planned. The additional time required to complete this work does not allow for the delayed production volumes to be recovered prior to year-end.
The 2023 annual planned maintenance shutdown, including the unplanned work, was completed by the end of September. All objectives of the maintenance shutdown were achieved, and normal production activities have resumed.
We continue to expect 18.0 million pounds (9.8 million pounds our share) in 2024.
Environment & Safety
Worker safety, protection of the environment and proper decommissioning after mining is completed, are of the utmost importance to Cameco.
Reserves & Resources
Our mineral reserves and resources are the foundation of our company and fundamental to our success.
Caution about forward-looking information
This page may contain forward-looking information that is based upon the assumptions and subject to the material risks discussed on page 2 of Cameco's most recent Quarterly MD&A.