en.Wedoany.com Reported - Cameco of Canada and Orano of France have recently reached an agreement to jointly acquire full ownership of the Cigar Lake uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. Under the acquisition arrangement with Tepco Resources Inc, a subsidiary of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Cameco's stake in the mine will increase by 2.871 percentage points to 57.418%, while Orano's stake will increase by 2.129 percentage points to 42.582%. Upon completion of this transaction, the 7.875% stake previously held by Idemitsu Canada Resources Ltd will no longer exist in the project—Cameco and Orano had already agreed to acquire this interest in 2022.
Cameco disclosed that the total cost of acquiring the aforementioned Tepco interest is approximately C$115.75 million (approximately US$83.7 million), with the final amount subject to customary closing adjustments. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.
Cigar Lake, described by operator Cameco as the world's highest-grade uranium mine, has an average ore grade of 16.33% U3O8. The orebody is hosted in soft Athabasca sandstone at a depth of 480 meters, presenting extremely complex geological conditions. To address this challenge, Cameco developed a specialized jet boring technology: first freezing the ground, then using high-pressure water jets to carve cavities in the frozen ore; the extracted ore-water mixture is processed through an underground grinding circuit, and the concentrated slurry is pumped to the surface, then transported by tanker trucks 70 kilometers to the McClean Lake processing facility operated by Orano, where it is ultimately processed into uranium concentrate.
On a 100% basis, as of December 31, 2025, the mine has proven and probable reserves of 172.4 million pounds of U3O8 (equivalent to 66,313 tonnes of uranium), measured and indicated resources of approximately 26.3 million pounds, and inferred resources of 20 million pounds. Since commencing production in 2014, the mine has cumulatively produced approximately 174.5 million pounds of packaged uranium (also on a 100% basis) by the end of 2025.
Looking ahead to 2026, Cameco's production expectation for the mine (on a 100% basis) is 17.5 to 18.0 million pounds of U3O8. The company plans to maintain production in the current mining areas while continuing development work related to the Cigar Lake extension, with the goal of extending the mine life to 2036. Related capital projects include the construction of freeze pads, freeze distribution systems, and underground infrastructure.
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