Sustainable Development
REPORT BUILDER

Stakeholder engagement

Engagement is the term used to describe an organization's efforts to involve stakeholders in its activities and decision-making processes.

Cameco strives to proactively engage stakeholders in a variety of ways and respond to questions and concerns in a timely, transparent and culturally appropriate manner.

Communities

Local communities are a key stakeholder group everywhere we operate.

We build and maintain public support for our operations through our relationships with local residents and we are sensitive to the needs, concerns and priorities of communities and individuals affected by or living close to our operations. We strive to provide significant employment and economic benefits to these communities.

Cameco also take surveys of public opinion every year in a number of jurisdictions where we operate. This helps us understand local opinions about the industry, our performance and our reputation.

While our approach to community engagement varies by region, all of our operations have ongoing community engagement activities.

Northern Saskatchewan, Canada

Our diverse engagement activities in northern Saskatchewan are focused on the needs and interests of communities in the northern administration district (NAD). This area makes up nearly half of the province, although it includes less than 5% of the population.

Because all of our Canadian mining operations are located in this region, we maintain an office in La Ronge that houses the Northern Affairs staff. Beyond this office, there are five satellite offices located in the northern communities of Patuanak/English River, Pinehouse, Black Lake, Fond du Lac, and Wollaston Lake. Each of these satellite offices employs one person, who is a permanent resident in the community and a direct liaison to the communities. We maintain close relationships with the Athabasca Working Group and members of the northern Saskatchewan Environmental Quality Committee. We also conduct an annual tour of communities in the northern administration district, providing a forum for direct information-sharing and two-way dialogue with members of these communities.

In 1999, Cameco and uranium mining peer AREVA signed one of the first impact management agreements in Canada with six Athabasca Basin communities– a landmark agreement that continues to guide the activities of the Athabasca Working Group today.

In October 2010, Cameco and AREVA signed a memorandum of understanding with the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan. The agreement includes a mandate to assist the Métis regions in becoming more involved in economic development opportunities, developing the young Métis workforce and supporting Métis community initiatives.

Ontario, Canada – Blind River

Cameco conducts formal engagement activities in the Blind River area including regular engagement with the local chief of the Mississauga First Nation, the Mayor of Blind River and other community leaders and participation in community events and charitable initiatives. Engagement consists of ongoing meetings, telephone conversations, presentations and quarterly reports.

In July 2010, Blind River signed a memorandum of understanding with the Mississauga First Nation, agreeing to continue to work together cooperatively and respectfully, to each party's economic and social benefit.

Ontario, Canada – Port Hope

In Port Hope we interact with the local community through community forums and ongoing dialogue with municipal leaders. Cameco began holding forums in 2006, to share information and to provide a way for people to raise concerns and engage in dialogue about our operations and related issues. We hold several forums each year and involve the public in selecting the topics. Community members are also kept informed through press releases, information on our websites and participation in open houses and other community consultations related to our permits and licences.

Kazakhstan

In the village of Taikonur, near our Inkai operation in Kazakhstan, we hold community meetings and public hearings to discuss construction plans, ongoing environmental monitoring and other activities at the operation. Residents of the community can request additional information from the office in Almaty and register concerns or complaints if they occur.

United States

Much of our engagement in Wyoming and Nebraska is focused around grassroots community involvement, through fundraising, volunteering and increasing awareness and understanding of the importance of good water management. Most of our managers and employees are residents of the small communities near our operations and are able to identify key community needs for support, particularly for youth and elderly community members. We invite schools and other groups to participate in site tours, to help educate residents about the safety of our operations and the small footprint of in situ recovery mining.

Australia

Cameco has been active in the Western Desert region over the past two years, building support and awareness and learning more about community needs and interests.

Together with the Western Desert Lands Aboriginal Corporation (WDLAC), which is the prescribed body corporate for the Martu people of the central western desert region in western Australia, we have conducted workshops and visited over 20 communities. We have held face to face cultural visits in all local Martu communities, and our community liaison and environmental and CSR managers visit regularly. We have completed a social impact study. Consultation and negotiation meetings are held at least six times per year. We have heritage meetings with WDLAC and sponsored their Martu Mining Services program. We continue to work on building local business capacity with the Martu.

We also conduct health and safety education in communities along our transportation routes, and sponsor Indigenous programs and events such as health initiatives, school clinics and expos, sporting and cultural events and conferences. We make presentations at conferences throughout Australia on Indigenous issues and cultural awareness topics.

Although a final development agreement has yet to be completed, we signed a preliminary, non-binding memorandum of understanding in 2011. This agreement acknowledges the Martu's support in principle for the proposed development.

Customers

Cameco sells uranium and fuel services (as uranium concentrates, UO2, UF6, conversion services or fuel fabrication) to nuclear utilities in Belgium, Canada, China, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan and the US. We are the only commercial supplier of UO2 to Candu reactors operated in Canada.

In addition to commercial considerations, customers care about the quality and safety of our products, our business practices, and our environmental performance, including safe product handling and transportation procedures.

We work with customers to closely monitor the needs of all nuclear utilities in our markets and to help them plan for future requirements.

Marketing representatives communicate with customers regularly through face to face meetings, telephone calls, emails, surveys and seminars. We also offer site visits and share company information with customers as needed to support their own sustainability reporting needs.

Employees

Employees have a clear and vested interest in our sustainable development performance from the perspectives of financial and job security, ethics and values, and professional learning, development and advancement.

Our employees are essential to our success. They also represent our company. They want and need to understand what we are doing in the area of sustainable development, and why. We strive to be open and accountable with employees about our social and environmental objectives, results and our plans for the future.

We prefer face to face communication with employees, but we also provide other channels to keep them informed, deal with emerging issues and gather their feedback.

Governments and regulators

Our relationships with government officials and regulatory agencies are critical to our business, and influence all stages of project development. Strong relationships with our regulators at the local, national and international level are equally important because they each make decisions that directly affect our business.

Cameco engages elected officials to ensure we understand local issues and requirements, and to explain our business operations. Our approach is to listen, to learn and to inform. This shared understanding and open dialogue allows us to maintain public support for our operations in all jurisdictions.

Regulators continuously engage Cameco representatives as part of ongoing operations and new projects. We report on operational activities and the results of our environmental monitoring and safety programs to regulators at regular, prescribed intervals and we also participate in public licensing and environmental assessment processes. We make a concerted effort to meet or exceed their expectations.

Government and regulator interests include compliance with the law and with the terms of our licensing requirements, public health and safety, economic and social development, and local community involvement. They are looking to Cameco to be a respectful, co-operative partner and a responsible corporate citizen.

Investors and analysts

Investors hold shares in our company and can put resolutions before our board of directors that may influence our decisions or the way we run our business. In addition to commercial considerations, institutional investors in particular may have a special interest in our sustainable development practices and performance, especially as they relate to socially responsible investment criteria and considerations.

Financial analysts have an ability to influence the market's perception of Cameco, including views on investment.

Investors and financial analysts care about the risks and opportunities that could affect our financial performance and how these things may affect shareholder returns. Our risk profile, current and expected future financial performance, and the level of public support for our activities are important to investors.

Every 12 to 18 months we carry out an investor perception study to understand investment community sentiment toward Cameco, gain insights into preferred investor relations practices and determine where the investment community stands in the area of corporate governance and sustainable development, including corporate social responsibility.

Media

The media are a key stakeholder group because they have an obligation to provide fair, unbiased reporting about our activities and performance. Their work influences perceptions of our company and our operations.

Representatives of the media are interested in timely disclosure of information. They value transparency in our communications and timely access to credible and knowledgeable spokespeople for the company.

We engage members of the media through press releases and other communications posted on our corporate website, as well through formal presentations and requests for information or interviews. Our external communications department has primary responsibility for engaging with media representatives, but they also interact with our senior executives and members of our board.