McClean Lake Operation and Cluff Lake Site
December 14, 2009
McClean Lake
Maintenance and reclamation activities continue at the mine area. There is currently no mining on site. The JEB Mill is processing stockpiled ore from the mined-out Sue B pit. On November 27th there was a release of clean ground water from one of the D-Wells. The water had backflowed and the pump overflowed onto the road. This incident was not considered a reportable spill. There was a reportable spill on December 7th when a nipple which held the pressure relief valve on a truck tank failed and approximately 20 litres of anhydrous ammonia was sprayed into the air, however because of the cold temperature, it remained in a liquid state and pooled onto the ground. The regulatory agencies were all notified and the material has been cleaned up. On December 12th McClean Lake reached a milestone of packaging over 48 million pounds of Uranium concentrate.
It is with great regret that we have decided to suspend production at our McClean Lake JEB mill and place it in a care and maintenance mode by mid summer 2010. The mill will continue to operate until July 2010, processing stockpiled ore to achieve an estimated 2010 production of 1,860,000 pounds U3O8.
Following a thorough review of all the potential options to keep the JEB mill running, we have concluded that given the substantial costs involved in bringing some ore from McArthur River to McClean Lake and the uncertainty related to the exact timing of the start of production at Cigar Lake to feed the McClean Lake mill, we cannot maintain activities at the mill using just a portion of McArthur River ore.
Unfortunately, the decision to suspend activities at the mill translates in a number of lay-offs which will occur in the summer of 2010. We currently estimate that about 120 McClean Lake employees and 20 Saskatoon employees will be affected. These numbers have not been finalized and are estimates as we continue to assess future staffing requirements during this time of decreased activity. We have very good people on our team and it is unfortunate to have to let any of them go. AREVA Resources is very conscious of the economic impact that these lay-offs will have on our employees, their families and communities. We will do everything in our power to help these employees through these difficult times.
We anticipate that we will likely restart the mill on a week-on/week-off production schedule first using McArthur River ore (pending regulatory and joint venture partners' approvals) to commission the high-grade circuits that were designed to mill Cigar Lake ore. The date of this restart will be determined based on the Cigar Lake mine schedule and will take place approximately a year prior to the anticipated arrival of Cigar Lake ore.
Environment
AREVA Resources' network of policies, procedures and monitoring programs ensures that emissions from mining and processing remain as low as reasonably achievable. The graphs below show the significant differences between the regulatory limits and the sampling results at the water treatment plant at McClean Lake. The bars at the bottom of each graph show the concentrations of elements in water from our treatment plant. The lines across the top sow the regulatory limits.
Midwest Project
The Environmental Assessment process and engineering design work continue so that, when market conditions improve and the project becomes economically viable, we will be in a position to quickly bring it on stream. During the Environmental Assessment process for the Midwest Mining Project, the site remains in care and maintenance mode. The McClean Lake site employees continue to be responsible for conducting the care and maintenance activities.
Cluff Lake Site
Routine maintenance and environmental monitoring activities continue at Cluff Lake. All site employees recently received CPR, AED (Automated External Defibrillator) and oxygen administration training from St. John's Ambulance.
The application to renew the Cluff Lake Approval to Operate a Pollutant Control Facility has been submitted to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment (SMOE) and we are awaiting the licensing decision. The previous approval expired August 31, 2009, but was extended by the SMOE to improve the review and provide opportunity to meet with the public.
There has been no reportable spill at Cluff Lake since September 28, 2004.
Human Resources
Donations and Sponsorships
We are pleased to have been able to help the following organizations in the month of November 2009.
- Children's Health & Hospital Foundation
- Agudas Israel Temple – Silver Spoon Dinner
- Saskatoon Interval House
- Saskatoon Wild Bantam Storm III
- Joey Maurice Volleyball Tournament
- Saskatoon City Hospital Foundation
- Hope Cancer Help Centre
- National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation
- Saskatoon Food Bank & Learning Centre
- Grandmonther's Bay Adminisration – Winston Wuttanee Performance
- La Loche Community School – Pee Wee Girls Volleyball Team
- Lac la Ronge Food Bank
- Chief Moses Ratt School – Christmas Activities
- Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre
- Mikisew Cree First Nation GIR – Elder Christmas Party
- Ben McIntyre School – Christmas Activities
- Fond du Lac First Nation – Christmas Activities
- Opswakum Sepe School – Community Christmas Supper
- Northern Health Strategy – Northern Youth Leadership Training
- Lac La Ronge Indian Band Health Services – Elders' Christmas Gathering
- Beauval Seniors Volunteer Group – Christmas Activities
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