Cameco reaffirmed to a mining conference Tuesday that it currently has no plans to bring its McArthur River/Key Lake uranium mine back on line.
CEO Tim Gitzel said Cameco is looking to secure long-term purchase contracts in order for McArthur River to restart production.
“We want to refill our contract book, at prices that are acceptable, where we can get a good return for our shareholders. We’re working on that,” explained Gitzel to the Scotiabank Mining Conference.
“We’re not going to bring back MacArthur just to have the market tank. And have to shut it down. It’s not fair to the people that work there, to the northern community.”
In November 2017, Cameco announced that it was temporarily suspending operations at McArthur River/Key Lake citing an oversupply in the market and falling uranium prices.
Gitzel said approximately 1000 people were affected by the shutdown.
He explained that once satisfactory purchase contracts are in place for McArthur River uranium, it may take one-year to 18-months to restart production.
Gitzel said Cameco still plans on using its Cigar Lake facility and access the spot market to fill existing contracts.
(Photo: McArthur River site.)