By Colin Kellaher
Cameco has temporarily suspended operations at its majority owned Cigar Lake uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan due to a shutdown at the mill that processes ore from the mine.
Cameco on Wednesday said Orano Canada, its partner at Cigar Lake, has encountered operational challenges with the sulfuric acid plant at its McClean Lake mill that caused it to shut down the plant for repairs.
Cameco owns about 57.4% of Cigar Lake, while Orano Canada, the local unit of French nuclear energy company Orano Group, owns roughly 42.6%.
Cameco said that due to limited ore storage capacity at Cigar Lake, it has temporarily suspended mining activities until sufficient acid is available to allow milling to resume at McClean Lake.
Cameco last month said it expects the Cigar Lake mine to produce between 17.5 million and 18 million pounds of uranium concentrate, known as U3O8, this year.
The company on Wednesday said it expects the McClean Lake mill to return to operation in about two weeks, and that it doesn't expect the disruption to impact its 2026 production outlook for Cigar Lake.
However, Cameco warned that if repairs to the acid plant take longer than planned and mining at Cigar Lake is unable to resume on the expected schedule, its production forecast could be affected.
Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com