Water
We understand that water it is a vital natural resource and our goal is to use the least amount possible for our activities. When we use water in our processes, we treat it using the best practical technology before releasing it back to the environment. We are continuously improving our water treatment program.
Cameco treats its mine water through the use of conventional water treatment plants or a combination of conventional water treatment and reverse-osmosis technology (a process that pushes water through a membrane, trapping contaminants and allowing purified water to flow through).
We release water to the environment in locations where there will be least disturbance to the environment. We sample and test water at the end of the release pipe, on the surface and in the ground to ensure we comply or go beyond regulatory requirements. Results are reported to the regulators and to the public on a regular basis.
We track the amount of water we withdraw by source, and we monitor the volume and quality of water we discharge to the environment.
Our goals are to:
- minimize the amount of water we consume
- keep clean water away from impacted areas
- ensure the water we do impact is treated and released to the environment in a way that will not harm aquatic ecosystems, plants, fish and animals, and humans.
Only 10% of the water we withdraw is used in our processes – the rest is returned to the environment.
We continually look for ways to improve process water management, in part through developing and testing newer water treatment technologies and looking for ways to optimize our treatment circuits.
In recent years, these efforts have helped us reduce concentrations of molybdenum and selenium in water released to the environment from our mining and milling operations in Saskatchewan.
You can read more about this in our case studies.
GRI Indicators
EN8 – Water withdrawal (by source)
^This indicator shows the volume of water we withdraw from municipal sources, surface water bodies and groundwater. It includes water we extract from groundwater depressurization, mine dewatering activities, seepage control, and runoff. It also includes streams purged from our in situ recovery (ISR) operations in the US and Kazakhstan (we do this to keep surrounding groundwater running towards our wells rather than away from them). These extraction processes allow us to continuously capture and treat any water that may be impacted by our operations.
Includes all divisions except corporate offices and exploration.
What it means
Although our mining operations have been expanding, our water withdrawal volumes have been relatively stable since 2009. This is because we are working to minimize seepage into our underground mines and are recycling water as much as possible.
Looking ahead
Cameco will continue to practice responsible water use by minimizing the amount of freshwater we use and diverting water around our operating footprints as much as possible.
EN21 – Water discharge (by quality and destination)
^Water volumes
This indicator provides information on the total volume of treated and untreated water we discharge, including process water, non-contact cooling water, and water from mine dewatering activities.
In addition, the indicator includes information about the volume of water we consume in our process whether it is evaporated, used to generate steam, or disposed through deep well injection.
Constituent loadings
Loading information is provided for discharge streams that are treated and released to the surface environment. Loadings are not reported for non-contact cooling water and other unimpacted streams because they are returned to the environment at the same quality at which they were withdrawn. These streams did not gain or lose any of the constituents already present.
Our deep well injection loadings are reported under indicator MM3, because the loadings are classified as mine process waste materials. Please review the mine waste indicator for more information about deep well injection.
Summary Mass Metal Loadings (kg)
| Corporate total - Surface Discharges | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | |
| Arsenic | 45 | 35 | 53 |
| Copper | 48 | 26 | 24 |
| Molybdenum | 14,911 | 4,170 | 2,438 |
| Nickel | 119 | 224 | 225 |
| Selenium | 125 | 47 | 47 |
| Uranium | 491 | 462 | 490 |
Includes all divisions except corporate offices and exploration.
What it means
In the last three years, the total mass of constituents we released to the environment has decreased most notably selenium and molybdenum. These reductions were achieved through persistent efforts to improve our water management practices and treatment technologies.
Looking ahead
Cameco aims to use water responsibly. We continue to work toward minimizing our consumption and ensuring that the water we discharge will not adversely impact the environment. We also continue to look for ways to divert or otherwise keep unimpacted streams from entering our mine workings and to minimize the potential for contamination. We will continue to look for ways to reduce our loadings to the environment.
About measuring and calculating our loadings
Loading calculations vary slightly at each site, but where constituent concentrations are lower than what our third-party labs can detect and measure, we usually report an amount at the minimum detection level.
For example, if the lab reports <0.001 mg/L, then we assume and report a concentration of 0.001 mg/L. This is a very conservative methodology that is typically used to assess the potential for environmental impacts, but overestimates our actual loadings to the environment.
In the future, we will be reporting in alignment with Environment Canada's National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) reporting guidelines and the methods described in the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR). When the lab cannot measure the concentration level of a constituent (also referred to as "below detection") we will assume zero loading. If the level fluctuates above and below the detection limit, we will assume the concentration is half of the limit for the readings that fall below the measurable level, and average those amounts with the measurable readings to calculate our total loadings.