Our Operations

Cameco operations span many different segments of the nuclear fuel cycle. We currently have operations in Canada, the United States and Kazakhstan, with advanced exploration projects in Canada and Australia.

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    Nuclear Fuel Cycle

    1. Mining and Milling

    Mining

    There are three common ways to mine uranium, depending on the depth of the orebody and the deposit’s geological characteristics:

    • Open pit mining is used if the ore is near the surface. The ore is usually mined using drilling and blasting.
    • Underground mining is used if the ore is too deep to make open pit mining economical. Tunnels and shafts provide access to the ore.
    • In situ recovery (ISR) does not require large scale excavation. Instead, holes are drilled into the ore and a solution is used to dissolve the uranium. The solution is pumped to the surface where the uranium is recovered.

    Milling

    Ore from open pit and underground mines is processed to extract the uranium and package it as a powder typically referred to as uranium concentrates (U3O8) or yellowcake.

    2. Refining

    Refining removes the impurities from the uranium concentrate and changes its chemical form to uranium trioxide (UO3).

    3. Conversion

    For light water reactors, the UO3 is converted to uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas to prepare it for the next stage of processing.

    For heavy water reactors like the Candu reactor, the UO3 is converted into powdered uranium dioxide (UO3).

    4. Enrichment

    Uranium is made up of two main isotopes: U-238 and U-235. Only U-235 atoms, which make up 0.7% of natural uranium, are involved in the nuclear reaction (fission).

    Most of the world’s commercial nuclear reactors require uranium that has an enriched level of U-235 atoms.

    The enrichment process increases the concentration of U-235 to between 3% and 5% by separating U-235 atoms from the U-238. Enriched UF6 gas is then converted to powdered UO2.

    5. Fuel manufacturing

    Natural or enriched UO2 is pressed into pellets, which are baked at a high temperature.

    These are packed into zircaloy or stainless steel tubes, sealed and then assembled into fuel bundles.

    6. Generation

    Nuclear reactors are used to generate electricity. U-235 atoms in the reactor fuel fission, creating heat that generates steam to drive turbines. The fuel bundles in the reactor need to be replaced as the U-235 atoms are depleted, typically after one or two years depending upon the reactor type. The used—or spent—fuel is stored or reprocessed.

    Spent fuel management

    The majority of spent fuel is safely stored at the reactor site. A small amount of spent fuel is reprocessed. The reprocessed fuel is used in some European and Japanese reactors.

    We have three business segments: uranium (mining and milling), fuel services, NUKEM

    Mining and Milling

    We are one of the world’s largest uranium producers, and in 2015 accounted for about 18% of global production. We have controlling ownership of the world’s largest high-grade reserves, with ore grades up to 100 times the world average, and low-cost operations.

    Product

    • uranium concentrates (U3O8)

    Mineral reserves and resources

    Uranium Reserves (100% basis)

    (as of December 31, 2015)

    Proven Probable Total Mineral Reserves
    Tonnes Grade
    %U3O8    		 Content
    (M lbs U3O8)    		 Tonnes Grade
    %U3O8    		 Content
    (M lbs U3O8)    		 Tonnes Grade
    %U3O8    		 Content
    (M lbs U3O8)    		 Cameco’s
    Share (M lbs)
    4,817.2 – 370.1 54,199.5 – 284.4 59,016.7 – 654.5 410.2
     


    Total

    Cameco reports reserves and resources separately. The amount of reported reserves does not include those amounts identified as resources. Totals may not add up due to rounding.

    Uranium Resources (100% basis)

    (as of December 31, 2015)

    Measured Resources Indicated Resources Total Measured and Indicated Inferred Resources
    Tonnes Grade
    %U3O8    		 Content
    (M lbs U3O8)    		 Tonnes Grade
    %U3O8    		 Content
    (M lbs U3O8)    		 Content
    (M lbs U3O8)    		 Cameco’s
    Share (M lbs)    		 Tonnes Grade
    %U3O8    		 Content
    (M lbs U3O8)    		 Cameco’s
    Share (M lbs)
    27,747.4 – 109.9 79,811.2 – 388.7 498.5 377.2 268,599.9 – 613.0 380.5
     


    Total

    Cameco reports reserves and resources separately. The amount of reported resources does not include those amounts identified as reserves. Totals may not add up due to rounding.

    Operating properties

    • McArthur River and Key Lake, Saskatchewan
    • Cigar Lake, Saskatchewan
    • Rabbit Lake, Saskatchewan
    • Inkai, Kazakhstan
    • Smith Ranch-Highland, Wyoming
    • Crow Butte, Nebraska

    Projects under evaluation

    • Kintyre, Australia
    • Yeelirrie, Australia
    • Millennium, Saskatchewan

    Global exploration

    • focused on three continents
    • approximately 1.6 million hectares of land

    Fuel Services

    We are an integrated uranium fuel supplier, offering refining, conversion and fuel manufacturing services for Candu reactors.

    Products

    • uranium trioxide (UO3)
    • uranium hexafluoride (UF6)
    • uranium dioxide (UO2)
    • fuel bundles, reactor components and monitoring equipment used by Candu reactors

    Operations

    • Blind River refinery, Ontario (refines uranium concentrates to UO3)
    • Port Hope conversion facility, Ontario (converts UO3 to UF6 or UO2)
    • Cameco Fuel Manufacturing Inc., Ontario (manufactures fuel bundles and reactor components)

    NUKEM

    Our ownership of NUKEM GmbH (NUKEM) provides us with access to one of the world’s leading traders of uranium and uranium-related products.

    Activity

    • physical trading of uranium concentrates, conversion and enrichment services through back-to-back purchase and sales transactions
    • recovery of natural and enriched non-standard uranium from western facilities and other sources