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McClean Lake - quality and productivity

McClean Lake Operation pamphlet (PDF 4.1 MB)

McClean Lake plays a key role in our future. Operated and 70% owned by AREVA Resources Canada, it is the newest, most technologically advanced uranium mill in the world. The McClean Lake operation began producing yellowcake in 1999 with ore from the now complete JEB and Sue C open pit mines. The JEB pit has since been converted to the tailings management facility (TMF). The TMF is designed so that the mine can be safely decommissioned, without harming the environment, when mining and milling are completed. The Sue C pit will be used for the disposal of some waste rock from the McClean Lake and Cigar Lake mining operations. McClean Lake produced 6 million pounds of U₃0₈ in 2004.

McClean Lake

Operator:
AREVA
Ownership:
AREVA Resources Canada [70%]
Denison Mines [22.5%]
OURD Canada Co. Ltd. [7.5%]
Reserves (December 2006):
28.2 million pounds U₃O₈ in situ and stockpiled with an average grade of 1.7% U₃O₈
Licensed Capacity:
12 million pounds U₃O₈ annualy
Location:
700 kilometres north of Saskatoon

McClean Lake mining equipment development program

Regulatory approvals have allowed annual licensed production capacity to be expanded from 8 million pounds to 12 million pounds. Construction has started on a $60 million expansion to allow the McClean Lake mill to process Cigar Lake ore. One of the largest projects is the ore slurry receiving facility for the ore arriving by truck from Cigar Lake. Production is expected to begin in 2011.

Open pit mining at McClean Lake re-started in mid-2005 with the small Sue A deposit next to the completed Sue C pit. This involved hiring about 60 new employees. Development of the Sue E mine, just south of Sue C, began in mid-2005.

Additionally, a new mining method is being tested to access small high-grade ore pockets. The MED (mining equipment development) project involves drilling a hole from the surface to the ore, then using a high-pressure jetting head and water lift system to cut the ore and bring it to the surface for processing.

In 2006, McClean Lake produced 1.8 million pounds of U₃O₈, milling low-grade ore from the Sue A and Sue E Phase 1 mines. During 2006, open pit mining was completed on Sue A. Crews began working on Phase 2 at Sue E. The project description for the new Caribou open pit mine was submitted to the regulatory agencies in December 2006.

The McClean Lake operation achieved ISO 14001 certification for its environmental management system in late 2000 - the first uranium mine in North America to achieve this high standard. McClean Lake has maintained this certification through regular independent audits.

Many years of intensive monitoring at McClean Lake by AREVA Resources Canada, federal and provincial agencies, and independent groups has found no adverse effect on the environment. McClean Lake is subject to compliance-based monitoring - by which water and air emissions from the mine and mill are tested on a regular basis to ensure that contaminants, if any, remain within regulatory limits - and environmental effects monitoring to ensure that plants and animals in the surrounding area are not adversely affected. Cumulative effects monitoring, conducted by Saskatchewan Environment, samples the ecosystem near the mine sites and further away to monitor impacts.

1979:	McClean ore body discovered
1982:	JEB ore body discovered
1985-90:	Sue A, B & C ore bodies discovered
1991:	Environmental Assessment (EA) begins under joint federal-provincial process
1995:	Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) becomes law
1995-98:	JEB mill constructed
1999:	Atomic Energy Control Board (AECB) issues a licence for the operation of McClean Lake uranium mill and tailings management facility after an eight-year environmental assessment and licensing process; Saskatoon-based ICUCEC files an application in Federal Court to quash the licence, stating that the AECB (now Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission) erred in issuing the licence without requiring a further environmental assessment under the CEAA
2001:	McClean Lake operating licence renewed for four years and amended for higher annual production
2002:	Federal Court judge rules against CNSC and quashes the 1999 operating licence; both CNSC and AREVA Resources Canada appeal the ruling and are granted a stay until the appeal is resolved; AREVA Resources Canada continues to operate the facility under the four-year licence issued in 2001
2003:	AREVA Resources Canada files for a new operating licence from the CNSC as insurance in case the appeal does not overturn the original Federal Court decision; the Province of Saskatchewan as well as the Lac La Ronge Indian Band, Kitsaki Development and Northern Resource Trucking (NRT) granted intervenor status by the Federal Court of Appeal to present information in the appeal of the original decision
2004:	The Federal Court of Appeal overturned the 2002 decision and validated the original McClean Lake operation license.
2005:	Supreme Court of Canada upholds McClean Lake license. The license was renewed and amended to allow expansion of the mill to process Cigar Lake ore. Constrution begins on the mill expansion. Mining of the Sue A open pit and weather sensitive work on the Sue E open pit begins.

Northern residents monitor the environmental impact of McClean Lake and other operations through the Athabasca Working Group's Community Environmental Monitoring Program. The program trains and equips community members to collect samples from the air, water, lake sediment, plants and animals in the vicinity of their communities. All samples from three years of monitoring showed there were no environmental effects from uranium mining operations.

McClean Lake Operation Sue E Project Environmental Impact Statement PDF Version (2.24 MB)	"McClean Lake New Licence Application pamphlet" PDF Version (522 KB)