The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has greatly expanded the production license for the McClean Lake uranium mill operated by AREVA. The Canadian regulator has allowed production at the mill to jump from 13 million pounds per year to 24 million pounds, AREVA announced.
Located in northern Saskatchewan, the McClean Lake mill is the only facility in the world designed to process high-grade uranium without dilution.
Since 2013, the McClean Lake mill has been through a “progressive ramp up” of the mill in line with the Cigar Lake mine's ramp-up to 18 million pounds annually. The tandem Cigar Lake mine and McClean Lake mill by production numbers will, therefore, become the second-largest uranium production center in the world, according to AREVA.
Olivier Wantz, Senior Executive Vice President Mining-Front End Business Group said the McClean Lake mill is the most technologically advanced mill of its kind in the world for processing high-grade uranium ore. “The safety of workers and environmental protection are at the center of the mill expansion project,” he said in a statement.