Demand for more power among developed economies is high, and clean, carbon free power, like uranium-driven nuclear energy, is “very strongly the preference,” said NexGen CEO Leigh Curyer. Photo by KLEIN MEDIA/WINNIPEG SUN/Postmedia filesArticle content
As countries around the world rely more heavily on nuclear power, and with supplies of uranium struggling to meet demand, a proposed uranium mining project in northern Saskatchewan is gearing up to potentially help close the gap.
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Canadian mining company NexGen Energy Ltd. is in the final stage of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission regulatory process for its Rook 1 development. A hearing is scheduled for next Monday in Saskatoon.
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The proposed mine is in the southwestern section of Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin, in what is known as the Arrow Deposit. The company characterizes it as a large-scale project with high-grade uranium. The mine, about 150 kilometres north of the town of La Loche, is estimated to cost $2.2 billion to build.
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In an online interview Thursday from New York City, NexGen chief executive Leigh Curyer said that while the mine is in the Athabasca Basin like other uranium mines in Saskatchewan, his company’s project is on the edge of the basin, in a region that’s easier to mine.
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“We are in the very hard crystalline basement rock where the deposit is located,” he said. “The deposit starts at 100 metres from surface, going down to 920 metres, which makes it shallower than some of the current uranium deposits that are in production in the Athabasca Basin.
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“It is simpler from an extraction method, and is a very clean ore body. The processing of it is simpler as well.”
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Curyer said a trailer complex on the site has been expanded to accommodate roughly 600 workers. It will expand to a capacity of 1,400 once construction starts. An exploration airstrip is under construction at the site.
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“This makes the project ready for significant exploration going forward,” Curyer said. “It will be able to immediately launch into full-scale construction on final federal approval. Work will immediately commence for an underground shaft construction once we have that approval.”
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He added that the shaft is estimated to take 18 months to complete.
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In November 2024, NexGen received confirmation from regulators that the company cleared a federal environmental assessment technical review. A month later, the same regulatory agency hit the company with a $29,000 administrative penalty for carrying out some site preparation and construction work at its mine without a proper license.
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“We currently have 82 per cent of our employees onsite coming from the local community,” Curyer said, adding that training programs specific to the construction and operation of the project have been ongoing in the northern region since 2022.
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“We expect the percentage of community-based employment to be very high, upwards of over 75 per cent at all times.”