mine · Canada
Cigar Lake
A high-grade uranium mine using jet boring in ground-frozen conditions.
OperatingProductionProject score 84
Operator
Cameco
Country
Canada
Mine life
10 yrs
Capex
—
Profile
Resource, economics and jurisdiction
- Resource
- Very high-grade unconformity uranium deposit.
- Production
- Around 18 Mlbs U3O8 annually, milled at McClean Lake.
- Economics
- Strong margins driven by grade despite technically complex mining.
- Infrastructure
- Ground freezing plant and mill toll agreement.
- Jurisdiction
- Very low risk
- Ownership
- Cameco 54.5%, Orano 40.5%
- Region
- Saskatchewan
Overview
What this asset is
A high-grade uranium mine using jet boring in ground-frozen conditions.
Methodology
Earthern Project Score 84
Version v0.1
- Resource Quality
- 82 (weight 1.2) — Grade, continuity and metallurgical complexity of the resource.
- Project Scale
- 86 (weight 1) — Annual output potential relative to the global market for its primary mineral.
- Development Stage
- 88 (weight 0.9) — How far the asset has advanced toward or through production.
- Jurisdiction
- 80 (weight 1.1) — Political stability, permitting predictability and rule of law.
- Infrastructure
- 80 (weight 0.9) — Access to power, water, transport and processing capacity.
- Economics
- 82 (weight 1.2) — Cost position and margin resilience through the price cycle.
- Strategic Importance
- 93 (weight 1) — Relevance to national critical mineral strategies and allied supply chains.
- Supply-Chain Value
- 89 (weight 1) — Whether the asset relieves a genuine downstream bottleneck.
- Sustainability
- 85 (weight 0.9) — Carbon intensity, water use, tailings approach and community standing.
- Execution Risk
- 76 (weight 1) — Technical, financing and schedule risk to reaching nameplate output. Higher is lower risk.
Materials
Minerals produced
Assets