McArthur to McClean

AREVA Resources Canada is proposing to haul a portion of the uranium ore produced at the northern Saskatchewan McArthur River mine to the McClean Lake mill to be processed into uranium concentrate, also called “yellowcake”. The McArthur River ore will be used to re-start the McClean Lake mill after it has been shut down for about two years and will allow AREVA to bring its employees and contractors back to work and prepare the mill to process the high-grade ore that will come from the Cigar Lake mine. AREVA is proposing to process up to a total of 9 million lbs of uranium ore concentrate from McArthur River over a period of approximately 3 years.

The ore slurry would be transfered from McArthur River, past the Key Lake operation and La Ronge, to reach the McClean Lake operation about 950km away (see map on page 4). This haulage will be done primarily on provincial highways 914, 165, 2 and 102/905. There is currently no direct road access between McArthur River and McClean Lake. The project as proposed would result in no more than 2 loaded and 2 empty returning trucks a day for 300 days in each of the 3 years of the project on the existing highways.

The uranium ore slurry will be transported in specially-designed containers similar to those used during the past 10 years without incident between the McArthur River mine and the Key Lake mill. These containers withstand extreme cold and hot temperatures, fire hazards and traffic accidents. Their wall thickness serves as a barrier to radiation exposure and protects their contents.

AREVA operates and owns 70% of McClean Lake. As well, AREVA owns 30% of McArthur River, 37% of Cigar Lake and 17% of Key Lake.

Map of Transportation Route