Key Lake mill

The Key Lake mill, as its name implies, is a “key” part of the Cameco success story, because it’s where the company mills ore from its main McArthur River property.

With a capacity to process approximately 18.7 million pounds of uranium a year, the Key Lake mill, located on a nine-kilometre long by five-kilometre wide site serviced by all-season roads and a 1.6-kilometre-long unpaved air strip, uses a seven-step process during production.

High-grade ore from McArthur River is delivered to the mill by truck where it is blended down to 4% uranium with waste rock prior to entering the milling circuits. The mill uses a conventional acid leach/solvent extraction process to recover uranium from the ore.

All uranium concentrate is dried and packaged in steel drums for shipment. All water used in the process is treated to meet regulatory standards. Solid wastes are placed in a tailings management facility built into a mined-out pit.

The Key Lake mill began operation in 1983 and for almost three decades, it has been a reliable producer. Cameco plans to renew the facility to maintain and increase its annual uranium production capability up to 25 million pounds through upgrades.

The Key Lake mill employs over 400 Cameco workers and about 240 contract employees.