McArthur River Mine Slow Track Increase Production

McArthur River Mine Slow Track Increase Production

Wednesday, May 10, 2006 at 19:36

The McArthur River mine in Northern Saskatchewan has put its plans for increased production on hold due to environmental concerns that were raised at the Key Lake mine site.

Cameco spokesman Lyle Krahn says the company has decided to put the increased production plan for McArthur River on the slow track after trace amounts of Selenium and Molybdenum were found during an environmental analysis of the Key Lake mine site.

Krahn says Cameco is currently working with the regulators to deal with and resolve the issue so the bid to increase production can continue.

Krahn says because mining of the uranium is done in McArthur River and milled in Key Lake, it has to be handled and shipped a specific way, which could be the reason for the contamination.

He says a proposal is being thought up to change the chemical process of handling the ore, which substantially reduce the trace of the chemicals.

Krahn says the plan was to increase production from 18 million pounds of uranium yellowcake per year to 22 million pounds.