Cameco Corporation

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Cameco Corporation is a major global uranium mining company, with four operating mines in Canada and the US, and a major nuclear fuel manufacturer.

It also has a minority shareholding in the Bruce Power Limited Partnership, which operates a nuclear power station in southern Ontario with four Candu reactors. It also has a majority shareholding in Centerra Gold.[1]

Cameco is the world’s largest uranium producer accounting for 20% of the world’s uranium production. Its mining and conversion facilities in North America provide fuel to the western world’s nuclear power plants. Through a partnership, we also generate nuclear electricity with a share of the Bruce Power nuclear facility in Ontario.[2]

Cameco's McArthur River is an underground mine in Saskatchewan which started up in 1999 producing 7200 tU/yr making it the largest mine in the world producing 17.9% of world supplies. This compares with Areva's McClean Lake open cast mine, also in Saskatchewan, which started up in 1999 which produces almost 2300 tU/yr (5.7% of world supply). Cameco owns a third mine at Rabbit Lake, also in Saskatchewan, but this is expected to close in 2007.[3] Cameco was planning to open another massive underground mine at Cigar Lake (Saskatchewan) in early 2008 producing around 7000 tU/yr, but this has now been delayed by at least a year due to a flood in the mine. [4]

Cameco is a member of the World Nuclear Association and the Nuclear Energy Institute, described as "the propaganda wing of the US Nuclear Industry".

Criticism

"Canadian resource giant, Cameco, has entered a joint venture with Australian Paladin Energy to explore and potentially mine the Angela Pamela uranium tenement 25 kilometres south of Alice Springs near the old outstation of Owen Springs.

"Last year, Cameco was forced to admit to leaking uranium, arsenic and fluorides into Lake Ontario, one of the biggest lakes in North America." [5]

Contact Details

Cameco Investor Relations
2121-11th Street West
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
S7M 1J3
Tel: (306) 956-6200
Fax: (306) 956-6318
Website: http://www.cameco.com/

References

  1. "About Us", accessed September 2007.
  2. Cameco website, accessed December 2006.
  3. Uranium Information Centre, Canada’s Uranium Production and Nuclear Power, November 2006. See also WISE Uranium Project, Issues at operating uranium mines and mills – Canada, Updated December 5, 2006.
  4. WISE Uranium Project New uranium mining projects – Canada, December 6, 2006.
  5. Jay Fletcher & Emma Murphy, "Traditional owner: don’t mine our land," Green Left Weekly, February 4, 2009.

Other SourceWatch Resources

External links

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