The head of a Saskatoon-based uranium mining company says although the shutdown of two mines in northern Saskatchewan last summer was certainly a difficult decision, it has proven to be the right one so far.

Cameco announced last July it was indefinitely shutting down both the McArthur River and Key Lake mine sites putting about 550 people permanently out of work.

CEO Tim Gitzel says the company was simply carrying too much inventory for current market demand and had to make changes.

He says since the announcement, the spot market price for uranium has improved from $21.50 per pound to a little over $29 per pound where it sits today.

“If we hadn’t taken this decision, I’m not sure the spot price would be where it’s at today,” he says. “So, that’s our path, that’s our strategy, we’re sticking with it, we like it and we’ll see how it plays out in 2019.”

The Cameco CEO made the comments at a recent investors meeting in Whistler, B.C.

The company also saw net earnings of $28 million in the third quarter compared to a loss in the same quarter during the previous year.

Revenue was up $2 million.

However, Gitzel says the threat of U.S. tariffs continues to be a problem for the company.

The United States Department of Commerce is currently investigating whether foreign uranium imports threaten national security since the country only produces a small fraction of the uranium it actually uses for energy.

Gitzel says the continued uncertainty over whether tariffs will be imposed means U.S. utilities are taking a “wait and see” approach when it comes to uranium purchases.

“The struggle for the utilities today is that 232 action that’s going on in the United States. That has absolutely flummoxed, if that’s a word, paralyzed the utilities.”

The U.S. is currently Cameco’s largest customer accounting for about 30 per cent of the company’s sales in 2017.

In the same year, the top five uranium producers in the world accounted for roughly 70 per cent of global production.

Of these companies, Cameco is the only one that is publicly traded

With files by Katrina Cameron.