After much anticipation, Cameco’s Cigar Lake mine in northern Saskatchewan began shipping uranium ore Thursday.
The uranium ore is being shipped about 43 miles down the road to Areva’s McLean Lake Mill where it will be processed.
The project had been delayed by a series of floods.
Construction of the underground mine began in 2005 but two flooding incidents in 2006 and 2008 caused delays.
It was 2011 before all the water was removed and construction could resume.
Areva spokesperson Jarret Adams says the first production results of the $2.6 billion investment marks a big day for both companies and the province.
“Cigar Lake is a major investment in our economic future and one that I think will create jobs and a lot of business opportunities for businesses in the region,” he says.
He adds in spite of the recent instability in world uranium prices, long term market trends appear to be strong and the expanded capacity is needed.
“The long term fundamentals of the uranium market are strong so as we sign long term agreements with our customers, we think we are in a good place.”
The Cigar Lake mine relies on a high-pressure water jet boring mining system for production.
The project will employ more than 600 workers, most of who are from northern Saskatchewan.
About 1,000 people worked on the construction of the mine.