Work is underway to bring hundreds of workers back to the two sites. (Submitted photo/Cameco)

By Derek Cornet

uranium industry

Hundreds to be hired at Key Lake and McArthur River

Feb 9, 2022 | 5:25 PM

Cameco is planning on hiring hundreds of workers for its McArthur River mine site and Key Lake mill.

The announcement that the sites would be returning to production was made Wednesday in a quarterly report. The Uranium giant anticipates the total workforce required at McArthur River and Key Lake will nearly double to around 900 employees and contractors in 2025, up from about 470 employees and contractors at the end of 2021.

“We’ve been down for four years at McArthur and Key Lake,” said CEO Tim Gitzel. “When we shut it down, the price of uranium back in 2017/2018 was about $17US per pound. We had to take some supply off the market and we did and so today we have seen some improvement. The prices are around $40 per pound, so that’s a lot better market.”

Historically, about half the workers at Cameco’s northern mines and mills have been residents of Saskatchewan’s North with the vast majority being of Indigenous heritage. Gitzel explained returning to production will not only mean more jobs for northerners, but more opportunities for northern businesses.

Gitzel mentioned he spoke with Lac La Ronge Indian Band Chief Tammy Cook-Searson on Wednesday about some of the opportunities on the horizon.

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“Clearly, we will be looking for more services from them and we will be looking to increase our workforce at both McArthur and Key Lake, so we will be working with the communities around our mine sites to hire more people,” he said. “As many as we can hire from up North, we will.”

Gitzel noted the restart process is already underway, adding people over the last several months have been working to get the sites ready. He said there has been some upgrades to technology including in the mill.

“We have several hundred people at the sites already, but we will probably need to double that over the next couple of years,” Gitzel said.

According to Cameco’s fourth-quarter earnings results, revenue for the quarter was $465 million.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno