Cigar Lake Suffers Another Setback

Cigar Lake Suffers Another Setback

Monday, October 23, 2006 at 14:29

It appears production startup at the Cigar Lake uranium operation has been pushed back to at least 2009 following another flooding incident over the weekend.

It’s the second time this year a portion of the mine has been flooded during construction.

The start date had already been pushed to early 2008 following a flooding mishap in April.

Yesterday afternoon, the mine experienced a significant water inflow following a rock fall. A portion of the underground development was allowed to fill with water.

Cameco says it took place in the future production area of the mine, and spokesman Lyle Krahn says the damage this time around is more extensive than what was experienced in April. In fact, he says approximately 40 per cent of the development below the surface has been affected.

Krahn says no one was hurt, but the scheduled startup of the mine has likely been pushed back another year.