mine · Canada
McArthur River
The largest high-grade uranium mine in the world, in the Athabasca Basin.
OperatingProductionProject score 89
Operator
Cameco
Country
Canada
Mine life
20 yrs
Capex
—
Profile
Resource, economics and jurisdiction
- Resource
- Extraordinary uranium grades, orders of magnitude above the global average.
- Production
- Around 18 Mlbs U3O8 annually with the Key Lake mill.
- Economics
- Very low cost per pound given exceptional grade.
- Infrastructure
- Key Lake mill, all-weather road and grid power.
- Jurisdiction
- Very low risk
- Ownership
- Cameco 70%, Orano 30%
- Region
- Saskatchewan
Overview
What this asset is
The largest high-grade uranium mine in the world, in the Athabasca Basin.
Methodology
Earthern Project Score 89
Version v0.1
- Resource Quality
- 87 (weight 1.2) — Grade, continuity and metallurgical complexity of the resource.
- Project Scale
- 87 (weight 1) — Annual output potential relative to the global market for its primary mineral.
- Development Stage
- 86 (weight 0.9) — How far the asset has advanced toward or through production.
- Jurisdiction
- 87 (weight 1.1) — Political stability, permitting predictability and rule of law.
- Infrastructure
- 83 (weight 0.9) — Access to power, water, transport and processing capacity.
- Economics
- 88 (weight 1.2) — Cost position and margin resilience through the price cycle.
- Strategic Importance
- 91 (weight 1) — Relevance to national critical mineral strategies and allied supply chains.
- Supply-Chain Value
- 98 (weight 1) — Whether the asset relieves a genuine downstream bottleneck.
- Sustainability
- 87 (weight 0.9) — Carbon intensity, water use, tailings approach and community standing.
- Execution Risk
- 88 (weight 1) — Technical, financing and schedule risk to reaching nameplate output. Higher is lower risk.
Materials
Minerals produced
Assets