Cluff Lake mine is decommissioned former uranium mine located in northern
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...
, located 30 km east of the provincial border with
Alberta
Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
and approximately 75 kilometres south of
Lake Athabasca
Lake Athabasca ( ; French: ''lac Athabasca''; from Woods Cree: , " herethere are plants one after another") is in the north-west corner of Saskatchewan and the north-east corner of Alberta between 58° and 60° N in Canada. The lake is ...
.
The mine and mill were owned and operated by
AREVA Resources Canada, formerly
COGEMA Resources and is now owned and operated by
Orano Canada.
The former mine lies south of the center of the
Carswell impact crater.
History
The mine operated from 1981
and used both
open pit
Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique that extracts rock or minerals from the earth.
Open-pit mines are used when deposits of commercially useful ore or ...
and
underground extraction.
Mining infrastructure consisted of a central mill, above ground tailings management area, 3 open pits, 2 underground mines, associated waste rock piles, and site infrastructure including the Cluff Lake airstrip and residences.
The mine expected to close in 2000, but additional higher ore grades in the underground mine allowed production to continue for an additional two years.
The mine closed in 2002
once the ore reserves were depleted.
Total production during the mine's 22-year operating life was over 62 million pounds of
yellowcake.
Decommissioning mostly happened in the subsequent five years and was totally completed in 2013 once the camp residence and
Cluff Lake Airport were removed.
Decommissioning activities were described by the
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC; ) is the federal regulator of nuclear power and materials in Canada.
Mandate and history
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission was established under the 1997 '' Nuclear Safety and Control Act'' with a ma ...
:
"the Claude pit was completely filled in. The DJ/DJX and D pits were flooded and remain isolated from adjacent natural water bodies. Potentially problematic portions of the surface waste rock piles were placed into the pits, while the remainder of the surface waste rock was contoured, covered and revegetated. The portals and vents to the underground mines were closed and the TMA was contoured, covered and revegetated. All structures were dismantled and disposed of."
In July 2019, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission: renewed Orano's uranium mine licence renewal by five years, though until July 31, 2024. As per their 2020 report:
"The licence renewal also reduced the licensed area for sections that were not used for mining and milling from the licence footprint to allow Orano to return the surface leases to the Province of Saskatchewan. There were no issues or concerns identified. The recovery of the site is proceeding as anticipated"
In February 2020, Orano applied to transfer responsibility for site to the
Government of Saskatchewan
The Government of Saskatchewan () is the provincial government of the province of Saskatchewan. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867.
In modern Canadian use, the term "government" refers broadly to the cabinet of th ...
.
Gallery
File:DJX pit lake.jpg, DJX pit lake
File:D pit lake.jpg, D pit lake
File:Claude Lake near the Cluff Lake uranium mine.jpg, Claude lake as seen from the waste rock pile
File:Island on Cluff Lake.jpg, Island on the Cluff Lake
References
External links
Cluff Lake- current page from AREVA Resources
Cluff Lake- archived page from AREVA Resources
{{Nuclear power in Canada
Uranium mines in Canada
Mines in Saskatchewan
Surface mines in Canada
Former mines in Canada