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Canada
McArthur River Mine

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 Location:
294 km N from La Ronge, Saskatchewan, Canada

  Regional Office:
2121 - 11th Street West
Saskatoon
Saskatchewan, Canada
S7M 1J3
Phone(306)-956-6200
Fax(306)-956-6201
WebsiteWeb
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  • Overview
  • Owners
  • Geology
  • Mining
  • Processing
  • Production
  • Reserves
  • Costs & Financials
  • Fleet
  • Personnel
  • Filings & News

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Overview

StageProduction
Mine TypeUnderground
Commodities
  • Uranium
Mining Method
  • Raiseboring
  • Blast Hole Stoping
Shaft Depth 680 m
On-Site Camp 473 rooms Source:
Production Start2000
Mine Life2044
McArthur River is the world’s largest, high-grade uranium mine, and Key Lake is the world’s largest uranium mill. Ore grades at the McArthur River mine are 100 times the world average.

The McArthur River and Key Lake operation was in a state of safe care and maintenance from 2018 through 2021 due to weak market conditions. In November 2022, was announced that the first pounds of uranium ore from the McArthur River mine had been milled and packaged at the Key Lake mill, marking the achievement of initial production as these facilities transition back into normal operations.


Owners

Source: p. 26
CompanyInterestOwnership
Orano Canada Inc. 30.2 % Indirect
Cameco Corp. (operator) 69.8 % Indirect
McArthur River is owned by a joint venture (MRJV) between two companies:
- Cameco – 69.805;
- Orano’s (previously AREVA) – 30.195%.

Contractors

ContractorContractDescriptionRef. DateExpirySource
Saskatchewan Power Corp. Power supply The mine site is serviced by a 138 kilovolt (kV) branch line fed from the SaskPower I2P utility line, which runs from the Island Falls generating station to Points North in northern Saskatchewan. Feb 28, 2023


Deposit Type

  • Unconformity related

Source: Source

Summary:

Geological setting The deposit is in the southeastern portion of the Athabasca Basin in northern Saskatchewan, within the southwest part of the Churchill structural province of the Canadian Shield. The deposit is located at or near the unconformity contact between the Athabasca Group sandstones and underlying metasedimentary rocks of the Wollaston Domain. The deposit is similar to other Athabasca Basin deposits but is distinguished by its very high grade and overall size. Unlike Cigar Lake, there is no development of extensive hydrothermal clay alteration in the sandstone above the uranium mineralization and the deposit is geochemically simple with negligible amounts of other metals. McArthur River’s geological setting is similar to the Cigar Lake deposit in that the sandstone that overlies the deposit and basement rocks contains large volumes of water at significant pressure. Mineralization McArthur River’s mineralization is structurally controlled by a northeast-southwest trending reverse fault (the P2 fault), which dips 40-65 degrees to the southeast and has thrust a wedge of basement rock into the overlying sandstone with a vertical displacement ranging between 60 and 80 metres. The deposit consists of nine mineralized zones with delineated mineral resources and/or reserves: Zones 1, 2, 3, 4, 4 South, A, B, McA North 1 and McA North 2. These and three under-explored mineralized showings, known as McA North 3, McA North 4 and McA South 1, as well as other mineralized occurrences have also been identified over a strike length of 2,700 metres. The main part of the mineralization, generally at the upper part of the basement wedge, averages 12.7 metres in width and has a vertical extent ranging between 50 metres and 120 metres. The deposit has two distinct styles of mineralization: • high-grade mineralization at the unconformity near the P2 reverse fault and within both sandstone and basement rocks; • fracture controlled and vein like mineralization that occurs in the sandstone away from the unconformity and within the basement quartzite. The high-grade mineralization along the unconformity constitutes the majority of the mineralization within the McArthur River deposit. Mineralization occurs across a zone of strongly altered basement rocks and sandstone across both the unconformity and the P2 structure. Mineralization is generally within 15 metres of the basement/sandstone contact with the exception of Zone 2. Uranium oxide in the form of uraninite and pitchblende (+/- coffinite) occurs as disseminated grains in aggregates ranging in size from millimetres to decimetres, and as massive mineralization up to several metres thick. Geochemically, the deposit does not contain any significant quantities of the elements nickel, copper, cobalt, lead, zinc, molybdenum, and arsenic that are present in other unconformity related Athabasca uranium deposits although locally elevated quantities of these elements have been observed in Zone B. Deposit type McArthur River is an unconformity-associated uranium deposit. Deposits of this type are believed to have formed through an oxidation-reduction reaction at a contact where oxygenated fluids meet with reducing fluids. The geological model was confirmed by surface drilling, underground drilling, development and production activities.


Mining Methods

  • Raiseboring
  • Blast Hole Stoping

Source:

Summary:

The McArthur River deposit presents unique challenges that are not typical of traditional hard or soft rock mines. These challenges are the result of mining in or near high pressure ground water in challenging ground conditions with significant radiation concerns due to the high-grade uranium ore. As such, mine designs and mining methods are selected based on their ability to mitigate hydrological, radiological and geotechnical risks.

There are three approved mining methods at McArthur River: raisebore mining, blasthole stope mining and boxhole mining. However, only raisebore and blasthole stope mining remain in use. These methods all use ground freezing to mine the McArthur River deposit.

Ground freezing
All the mineralized areas discovered to date at McArthur River are in, or partially in, water-bearing ground with significant pressure at mining depths. This high pressure water source is isolated from active development and production areas in order to reduce the inherent risk of an inflow. To date, McArthur River has relied on pressure grouting and ground freezing to successfully mitigate the risks of the high pressure ground water.

Chilled brine is circulated through freeze holes to form an impermeable freeze barrier around the area being mined. This prevents water from entering the mine, and helps stabilize weak rock formations. Ground freezing significantly reduces, but does not fully eliminate, the risk of water inflows.

Blasthole stoping
Blasthole stoping began in 2011 and was the main extraction method prior to our production suspension. It is planned in areas where blastholes can be accurately drilled and small stable stopes excavated without jeopardizing the freeze wall integrity. The use of this method has allowed the site to improve operating costs by increasing overall extraction efficiency by reducing underground development, concrete consumption, mineralized waste generation and improving extraction cycle time.

Raisebore mining
Raisebore mining is an innovative non-entry approach that we adapted to meet the unique challenges at McArthur River, and it has been used since mining began in 1999. This method is favourable for mining the weaker rock mass areas of the deposit, and is suitable for massive high-grade zones where there is access both above and below the ore zone.


Crushing and Grinding
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Processing

  • Calcining
  • Sulfuric acid (reagent)
  • Solvent Extraction
  • Atmospheric Leach (AL)
  • Reverse osmosis
  • Agitated tank (VAT) leaching
  • Counter current decantation (CCD)
  • Acid tank leaching
  • Dewatering

Flow Sheet: Source
Source: Source

Summary:

McArthur River produces two product streams, high-grade slurry and low-grade mineralization, which both report to the Key Lake mill to produce calcined uranium ore concentrate.

High-grade ore is slurried, ground, and thickened underground at McArthur River. The resulting slurry is pumped to surface and, after blending and further thickening, is transported to Key Lake in slurry trucks.

Low-grade mineralization is hoisted to surface and stored on the low-grade mineralization pads. This material is then hauled to the Key Lake low-grade mineralization blend pads.

McArthur River low-grade mineralization, including legacy low-grade mineralized waste stored at Key Lake, is slurried, ground and thickened at Key Lake and then blended with the McArthur River high-grade slurry to a nominal 5% U3O8 mill feed grade. All remaining uranium processing (leaching through to calcined uranium ore concentrate packaging) and tailings disposal also occur at Key Lake.

Key Lake activities
High-grade ore slurry arriving at the Key Lake ore slurry receiving plant is unloaded from the truck-mounted containers by a vacuum aspiration system and pumped to one of four large air-agitated slurry storage pachucas.

High-grade ore slurry is withdrawn from the ore storage pachucas and pumped to the blending tank where it is mixed with the neutral thickener underflow. The resulting slurry is pumped to one of three storage pachucas located in the leaching plant. Blending is necessary as the original Key Lake processing facilities were not designed from a radiation protection perspective to accommodate the high ore grades found at McArthur River. In addition to reducing the radiation exposure in the mill, the dilution of the high-grade ore serves two other purposes: recovery of uranium from the low-grade mineralized material; and final disposal of the low-grade mineralized waste.

The uranium is leached from the ore in the atmospheric leach pachuca and three continuous stirred tank reactors, while uranium-bearing solution is separated from waste solids in the counter current decantation (CCD) wash circuit. The high pressure autoclave secondary leaching circuit is on stand-by as the current ore is amenable to leaching at atmospheric pressure. Sulphuric acid, steam and oxygen are injected into the leach vessels to promote uranium extraction.

The CCD circuit consists of eight thickeners in series. The slurry flow is counter current to the wash water. The slurry moves from thickener one to thickener eight, while the wash water moves from thickener eight to one. The uranium-rich CCD overflow is pumped to the clarifier whilst the CCD underflow, with minimal residual uranium, is sent to the Deilmann tailings management facility.

In the solvent extraction plant, the clarified overflow pregnant solution is concentrated and purified by mixing with an organic solvent. The uranium transfers from the aqueous solution to the organic phase leaving behind most of the dissolved impurities. The organic solvent, loaded with uranium, is contacted with ammonium sulphate solution causing the uranium to transfer back to a highly concentrated aqueous phase known as loaded strip solution. A molybdenum removal circuit treats the loaded strip solution to remove molybdenum, an undesirable impurity in the final product.

Using ammonia, uranium is precipitated from the loaded strip solution in the precipitation tank as ammonium diuranate. The precipitate is dewatered in the yellowcake thickener followed by a centrifuge then calcined to U3O8 in a multi-hearth furnace. The final calcined uranium ore concentrate is packed in 200 litre drums for shipment to refineries around the world.

Excess ammonium sulphate is recovered from the yellowcake thickener overflow by evaporating the water and drying the resulting product, which is sold locally for use as a high purity fertilizer.

Contaminated water from the dewatering system associated with the depleted Gaertner and Deilmann open pits at Key Lake is treated in a reverse osmosis plant with the permeate used as industrial water.

Reject water from the reverse osmosis plant along with waste solvent extraction solution (raffinate) is sent to the bulk neutralization plant where the streams are neutralised with lime and other reagents are added to precipitate dissolved impurities. The resulting solids are combined with the CCD underflow and pumped to the Deilmann tailings management facility for final disposal. The treated water is sampled and released to one of four monitoring ponds. If all federal and provincial regulations are met, the treated water is released to the environment. If not, the pond is recycled through the bulk neutralization plant until the treated effluent becomes suitable for release.

The powerhouse/utilities/acid plant/oxygen plant complex provides acid, steam and oxygen for leaching and backup power as required.

Recoveries & Grades:

CommodityParameter2022201820172016
Uranium Recovery Rate, % 99999999

Production:
McArthur River mine restart production in November 2022.

CommodityUnits2023202220182017
Uranium M lbs 15 ^1.10.216
All production numbers are expressed as U3O8. ^ Guidance / Forecast.


Reserves at December 31, 2022:

CategoryTonnage CommodityGradeContained Metal
Proven 2,138 kt U3O8 7 % 329.9 M lbs
Probable 530.7 kt U3O8 5.47 % 64 M lbs
Proven & Probable 2,669 kt U3O8 6.7 % 394 M lbs
Measured 74.9 kt U3O8 2.23 % 3.7 M lbs
Indicated 63 kt U3O8 2.23 % 3.1 M lbs
Measured & Indicated 137.9 kt U3O8 2.23 % 6.8 M lbs
Inferred 38.9 kt U3O8 2.89 % 2.5 M lbs

Commodity Production Costs:

CommodityUnits2023
Cash costs U3O8 USD 16 / lb ^  
^ Guidance / Forecast.

Financials:

Units20192018
Sustaining costs M CAD 2   9  



Heavy Mobile Equipment as of December 31, 2018:
Source: Source p.98
HME TypeModelSizeQuantity
Bolter 2
Concrete sprayer 2
Concrete sprayer 2
Continuous Miner Sandvik AM75 1
Dozer 2
Drill Cubex 4
Drill (long hole) Cubex 2
Drill jumbo (two boom) 2
Grader 2
Loader 3
Raise boring rig 3 m 8
Scoop Tram 8 cu. yd 4
Scoop Tram 6 cu. yd 3
Scoop Tram 4 cu. yd 2
Trans Mixer 2
Truck (fuel / lube) 4
Truck (haul) 2

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
General Manager - Processing Daley McIntyre LinkedIn Mar 23, 2023
Maintenance & Services Manager Keith Perry LinkedIn Mar 23, 2023
Mine General Manager Greg Murdock LinkedIn Mar 23, 2023
Operations Manager Kirk Lamont LinkedIn Mar 23, 2023
Process Superintendent Nathan Rolston LinkedIn Mar 10, 2023
Senior Maintenance Planner Kris Halland LinkedIn Mar 23, 2023
Technical Services Superintendent Drew Williams LinkedIn Mar 10, 2023

Staff:

EmployeesTotal WorkforceYear
833 2022
670 2021
185 2020
175 2019

Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
Other 2023
Management Discussion & Analysis 2022
Other 2022
Quarterly Report 2022
Annual Information Form 2021
Management Discussion & Analysis 2021
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2021
Management Discussion & Analysis 2020
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2020
Annual Information Form 2019
Annual Report 2019
Technical Report 2019
Annual Information Form 2018
Annual Report 2017
Form 40-F 2016
Press Release 2016
Form 40-F 2015
Annual Report 2014
Form 40-F 2013
Technical Report 2012

Aerial view:

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