REGINA — The province is touting two new uranium mine projects that have recently received federal approval.
On Feb. 19 Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission gave its approval to Denison Mines Corp. to go ahead with construction of its Wheeler River Project. On March 5 the same approval was grant to NexGen Energy Ltd. to proceed with its Rook I Project.
Together, they mark the first uranium mines in Canada to receive approval since 2004.
At an event at the legislature Thursday, the province recognized the achievement and touted the benefits to the provincial economy of the two uranium mines, with a total investment estimated as $2.8 billion.
“On behalf of the government of Saskatchewan, I'd like to congratulate Denison and NexGen on reaching these significant milestones,” said Energy and Resources Minister Chris Beaudry.
"As a government, we are very pleased to see their projects reach this critical stage. Through the entire approval process, each company has advanced their projects in a responsible way. By building relationships with local communities, demonstrating a commitment to collaboration and economic development of Indigenous communities, and making commitments to environmental stewardship. Wheeler River will be the first uranium mine in Canada to use in-situ recovery technology, and Rook I is planned to be one of the world's largest uranium production facilities, producing some of the highest grade uranium in the world. These mines will bring generational economic opportunities for people and communities in the north. ”
Beaudry said the two projects are expected to create over 1,600 jobs during the construction phase, and will employ more than 700 people once operational.
Both projects are located in northern Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin, home to the world’s largest high-grade uranium reserves.
“It was well over a decade ago that we made the strategic decision to exit our international operations and to make significant long-term investments in the uranium mining sector in northern Saskatchewan,” Denison president and CEO David Cates said. “Today, we have a diverse portfolio of projects, including a minority interest in the operating McLean Lake mill and mine, as well as our flagship Weaver River project, which consists of the Phoenix in-situ recovery, or ISR, uranium mine, and a potential future underground mine at the nearby Griffin deposit. Phoenix will be the first ISR uranium mine to be built in Canada, and has the potential to achieve a superior standard of sustainability, and reflects the best of Canadian mining ingenuity and determination…
“Now, further to this, I'm pleased to announce that site preparation and initial construction activities have already commenced at Phoenix, and that we're preparing now to transition into full-scale construction. Our project construction timeline is approximately two years, which means that our objective is to achieve first production from Phoenix by mid-2028. This positions Denison as one of the few uranium suppliers globally that's expected to be able to provide a new, sizable source of uranium production before the end of the decade. ”
NexGen Chief Commercial Officer, Travis McPherson, said it was an "an extremely, extremely exciting time for NextGen, for Denison, and for all the people of the province.
“The final approval of the Rook I project is more than a milestone. It's the beginning of a new dawn, not just for NextGen, but for the entire province of Saskatchewan. The start of something transformational in our industry, not just in Saskatchewan or Canada, but globally. We're reimagining resource development in a way that creates lasting, generational positive impacts for all stakeholders."
He calls Rook I a project that will re-establish Saskatchewan and Canada as "a genuine energy superpower, and the global leader in the supply of uranium." He also said it comes at a critical time for Canada given the depleting resources of the legacy uranium mining industry and the strong global demand for nuclear energy.
"With approval secured, we are entering into construction at a time where it's never been clearer. The world needs clean, reliable nuclear energy, and Rook I will play a critical role in meeting that demand. 20 per cent of the world's uranium in one mine, right when the world needs it most, and right in the heart of Canada, Saskatchewan."
NexGen estimates that Rook I will generate an initial estimated $32.5 billion in total economic impact for Saskatchewan over its construction and initial operations phases. Both NexGen and Denison Mines say their will mean generational careers in the North and pointed to collaborations with First Nations in the North.
“This achievement is built on strong partnerships, including our Indigenous Nation partners, Clearwater River Dene Nation, Métis Nation Saskatchewan, Buffalo River Dene Nation, and Birch Narrows Dene Nation, as well as the government of Saskatchewan and Premier Scott Moe, and a rapidly developing local workforce and business network in the local project area. Together, we are redefining what responsible resource development looks like," said Cates.
"I mean, it's a very good news story in NexGen's instance," McPherson said. "We have four primarily identified and impacted First Nations and Métis groups in our local project area, all of which, I mean, it was on public display when we had our commission hearing, but very, very supportive of the project and NextGen stewardship of it."
As for how they got such strong support, McPherson said "it's really the basics. It's building trust, being respectful, and starting early and often. Where we sit today, what it means for them is it means generational positive change for those communities across all fronts, creating businesses, creating long-lasting careers."
Both companies feel well positioned to capitalize on the nuclear renaissance in Canada and the interest in nuclear power.
"Well, it's absolutely an incredible time for nuclear energy growth," said Cates.
"One of the challenges we have in our industry is the speed it takes to take a discovery to production. And you know, our story is unique. We're two years away now that we've started construction from first production. And that puts us years ahead of really any other large scale source of uranium production globally. So I think we are in an excellent place to be able to capture that growing growth and actually produce, sell uranium into what we expect to be a further improving market."
"Not only do you have the demand which is clearly there and growing like something we've never seen before, but it's coming at a time where… there's just not enough uranium fuel going around," McPherson said. "Thank goodness we were doing the work we were doing back in 2011, 2013, 2014 when we made the discovery, because it does take a long time to bring the fuel into a reactor."
