Any production rate is better than zero. That from Cameco CFO and Senior Vice-President, Grant Isaac when asked about the status of the McArthur River Mine/Key Lake Mill operations in northern Saskatchewan during an investors webcast. The McArthur River Mine and the Key Lake mill have not been in operation since a planned stoppage back in 2018. Isaac says there’s only financial upside once Cameco makes the decision to resume operations. “The issue of flexibility is part of the strategy that I’ve talked about, you know, ours is not a spot market commodity, those who believe it’s a spot market commodity are destined to throw away value and transfer it to fuel buyers. Building the homes for the planned production is the way you do it in the uranium space and so those planned production levels, you want to make sure you have the flexibility in your asset base.”

Isaac says Cameco has used the time while the sites have been closed to achieve operational flexibility which translates to lowering the fixed costs and increasing the variable costs. According to Cameco’s Q3 update from 2021, the costs to maintain the two operations during the suspension are between $8 million and $10 million a month.

In regards to starting phase two at Cigar Lake, Isaac says now isn’t the right time to make that investment even with today’s prices. Starting phase two at Cigar Lake would likely come after the mine and mill resume operations after being shut down for a planned stoppage back in 2018. It’s expected that phase one at Cigar Lake will be completed later in the decade.