Canada's Cigar Lake Uranium Mining Resumes Production

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Written by Danny Levin, Deputy Editor for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land, Texas)

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Summary

Cameco on July 14 restarted production at the Cigar Lake Uranium Mine in Saskatchewan. Cigar Lake is widely recognized as the world's second-largest uranium mine, but the outage did not have any material impact on uranium spot prices or future production.

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Restarting Production

Cameco has restarted production at the Cigar Lake Uranium Mine in Saskatchewan, Canada after the McClean Lake Mill resumed operations. Cigar Lake is the second-largest uranium mine in the world, while McClean Lake processes its ore.

The sulfuric acid plant at McClean Lake was temporarily shut down earlier this month, halting milling at the site, but ore stockpiled at Cigar Lake is once again being shipped out for processing.

According to Industrial Info Resources data, there are 58 mining-related projects worth US$19 billion under construction across Canada. This includes a new uranium mine that also would have its ore shipped to McClean Lake.

The Industrial Info Resources Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Offline Event Database offers detailed reports for the Cigar Lake and McClean Lake outages, while the GMI Plant Database offers key information on the two sites.

High-grade uranium ore slurry from Cigar Lake is trucked in special containers about 70 kilometers (43 miles) to McClean Lake, where it's processed into uranium concentrate (yellowcake).

Mine operator Cameco describes Cigar Lake as the world's highest-grade uranium mine. The company has a 57.41% ownership stake, while joint-venture partner Orano has a 42.58% stake. This follows Cameco's acquisition of Tokyo Electric Power Company's (TEPCO) previous 5% stake.

Orano is the majority owner of McClean Lake (77.5%), while Denison Mines holds the remaining 22.5% stake.

For more information, see July 7, 2026, article - Cameco Suspends Operations at Saskatchewan's Cigar Lake Uranium Mine.

Cigar Lake's Presence

Cigar Lake is widely recognized as the second-largest uranium producing mine in the world, behind Cameco's McArthur River Mine, also in Saskatchewan.

The World Nuclear Association's most recent data indicates Cigar Lake accounted for 11% of the world's global uranium demand in 2024. And Canada is the second-largest uranium supplier in the world, behind Kazakhstan and ahead of Namibia.

Cigar Lake produced 16.9 million pounds of triuranium octoxide (U3O8), or uranium concentrate, in 2024 on a 100% basis, compared with 19.1 million pounds in 2025. Despite the recent two-week outage, Cameco expects no impact on the mine's outlook of 17.5 million to 18 million pounds for this year.

Spot price data indicates the two-week outage did not have any material effect on the uranium market.

Meanwhile, McClean Lake has an annual capacity of 24 million pounds of U3O8 per year. In 2025, production reached a record 19.8 million pounds of U308. That is 700,000 pounds more than Cigar Lake's output, because McClean Lake processed both new and older ore.

Two New Saskatchewan Uranium Mines

IIR data shows two new uranium mines that would have their recovered ore processed at McClean Lake, one of which already is under construction. Both high-grade deposits (Phoenix and Gryphon) fall under the Wheeler River project: Denison is the project operator and owns a 90% stake, with JCU (Canada) Exploration Company Limited owning the remaining 10%.

Construction of the Phoenix in-situ recovery (ISR) mine kicked off in March, marking what would be the first new large-scale Canadian uranium mine in more than two decades, according to Denison. The company expects construction will take about two years, putting first production on track by mid-2028. The underground Gryphon mine is in the early planning stage, where factors could delay or otherwise alter the project's timeline and/or investment. Industrial Info Resources offers more information in its GMI Metals & Minerals Project Database, where readers can find details--including key contacts, investment values and construction schedules--in detailed project reports.

Key Takeaways

• Cameco on July 14 resumed production at the Cigar Lake Uranium Mine in Saskatchewan after operations resumed at the McClean Lake Mill.
• Two new uranium mines, majority owned and fully operated by Denison Mines, would also have their ore processed at McClean Lake. One of them is under construction.
• 58 mining-related projects worth US$19 billion are under construction across Canada.

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About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, Industrial Info Resources is tracking over 250,000 current and future projects worth $30.2 trillion (USD).