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 155.4 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.
Operation
Production
2024 Q4 Update
- Production
Cigar Lake Production
Cameco's Share (million lbs)Three months ended December 31, 2024 Year ended December 31, 2024 2024 2023 2024 2023 2024 Plan 2025 Plan 2.5 2.6 9.2 8.2 up to 9.8 9.8 Total packaged production from Cigar Lake in 2024 was 16.9 million pounds U3O8 (9.2 million pounds our share) compared to 15.1 million pounds U3O8 (8.2 million pounds our share) in 2023.
Lower productivity from the mine was primarily the result of a lower production rate at the McClean Lake mill. At various times during the year, the mill was impacted by ore quality variances, like lower ore grades and/or higher arsenic levels, and by unplanned maintenance at the McClean Lake mill. The majority of downtime occurred in the first and fourth quarters of the year.
During the year, we:
- produced from and continued development work in the CLMain orebody in alignment with our long-term production plan
- successfully executed a planned 28-day annual maintenance outage
- fully completed the ground freezing program for CLMain orebody by finishing the outfitting of the final freeze holes
- began physical surface work for development of the CLExt portion of the orebody
- completed an expansion of the waste rock storage pads to support the remaining mine development, including development in both the CLMain and CLExt portions of the orebody
- Underground development
Underground mine development continued in 2024. We completed development of two production crosscuts; one in the eastern portion and one in the western portion of CLMain. Development also continued for access to the CLExt orebody.
Planning for the future
- Production
In 2025, we expect to produce 18 million pounds (100% basis) at Cigar Lake; our share is approximately 9.8 million pounds.
In 2025, we plan to continue production and development activities in CLMain, as well as development drifts to access CLExt in alignment with our long-term mine plan. We will also continue earthworks and construction of surface services to support the expansion of freeze activities required for future production from CLExt.
- Cigar Lake Extension
A new NI 43-101 technical report for Cigar Lake was filed March 22, 2024, replacing the previous Cigar Lake Operation technical report, filed in March 2016. Key highlights of the report include:
- extension of the mine life to 2036 subject to receipt of all regulatory approvals, with estimated full annual production of 18 million pounds (100% basis) (9.8 million pounds our share) U3O8 recovered from the mill for 10 years followed by a two-year ramp down until depletion
- conversion of 73.4 million pounds (100% basis) (40 million pounds our share) of CLExt mineral resources into mineral reserves
- mine development and capital expenditures for CLExt expected to be approximately $895 million (Cameco’s share – $487 million), including approximately $520 million (Cameco’s share – $284 million) required in advance of first ore from CLExt in 2030
- increase in estimated average cash operating costs per pound—from $18.75 to $20.58
More detailed descriptions of the scientific and technical information on which the mineral reserves and mine plan are based are included in the relevant sections of the technical report. A copy is available on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca), on EDGAR (www.sec.gov), and on the right sidebar of this page.
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.
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