# Cameco - No cigar for uranium buyers?



## 56gsa (23 January 2007)

There is a bit of tension building up over Cameco's announcement... my guess (and it is just that) is that the news won't be too positive on Cigar Lake, giving the sellers the edge in the current stand-off.

From:
http://www.stockinterview.com/News/01202007/Uranium-Price-Stall.html

_Like Washington Irving’s fictional short story character, the spot uranium price has taken a snooze. It’s been five weeks of no change in the spot price of uranium – an impatient eternity for the metal which nearly doubled during 2006. This past Thursday, Cameco announced a company conference call would take place on Wednesday, February 7th to discuss the fourth quarter financial results and company developments. 

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the specific update investors will mostly want to hear about is the remediation progress at the company’s Cigar Lake uranium mine in Canada’s Saskatchewan province. Cameco failed to mention Cigar Lake in its news release, but analysts and the media will quickly inquire if the subject is not brought up. While investors gather around the Internet chat boards, like gamblers in a casino – trying to determine whether the spot uranium price will float higher or sink by February 7th, utilities are faced with a different crisis.

According to Treva Klingbiel, editor of TradeTech’s Nuclear Market Review (NMR), “Buyers are finding it increasingly difficult to locate willing sellers, as sellers grow increasingly confident about continued price increases.” NMR publishes changes in the spot uranium price every Friday in its weekly publication. No new transactions or new demand was reported in either the spot or long-term uranium markets this past week.

Although no new transactions were reported, the spot uranium market remains very tight. This week’s Nuclear Market Review reported that ten buyers, including seven utilities and three intermediaries, continue to seek offers for more than five million pounds of U3O8 equivalent. One U.S. utility is hoping to buy 650,000 thousand pound of U3O8 contained in UF6. The same tension is found in the long-term market where fifteen buyers are actively hoping to purchase nearly 54 million pounds of U3O8 equivalent.

This past week’s quarterly update from ERA (Australia) announcing a 20-percent drop in uranium mining production for 2006 was expected, but probably not welcome news. The ballyhoo about the company’s single digit increased uranium oxide production may have sounded good on paper, but the increased production is insufficient from one of the world’s largest uranium miner to feed a hungry nuclear fuel market. Again, uranium mining companies could not keep up this year’s demand for yellowcake and UF6. The uranium bull market continues.

We suspect transactions may pick up a bit through the week of February 7th as nervous buyers and confident sellers hedge their bets on Cameco’s Cigar Lake update. Before the Cameco update, Nuclear Market Review will issue two more spot price announcements. In February, the stalemate should be over, and we will have a more transparent picture of the direction spot uranium price takes for the balance of the first quarter and possibly for the rest of the year._


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## Kauri (27 January 2007)

Cameco Reports Progress on Remediation of Cigar Lake Project SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN--(CCNMatthews - Jan. 25, 2007) - Cameco Corporation (TSX:CCO) (NYSE:CCJ) is making progress with a phased plan to restore the underground workings at Cigar Lake after a water inflow on October 23, 2006 flooded the underground development.

The first phase of the remediation plan involves drilling holes down to the source of the inflow and to a nearby tunnel where reinforcement may be needed, pumping concrete through the drill holes, sealing off the inflow with grout and drilling dewatering holes. Subsequent phases include dewatering the mine, ground freezing in the area of the inflow, restoring underground areas and resumption of mine development. Regulatory approval is required for each phase of the remediation plan.

Six of the 14 drill holes planned for reinforcing and sealing off the water inflow area are now complete.

Concrete will be poured in two locations - one near the rock fall to seal off the inflow area and another in a nearby tunnel to provide reinforcement. About 200 cubic metres of concrete has been poured in the reinforcement area. (See the diagram posted with this news release on Cameco's website at cameco.com). The concrete mixture is designed to harden under water and will be poured in successive layers.

Experience gained through drilling the initial holes is reducing the time required for subsequent holes. Cameco expects to complete the work necessary to seal off the water inflow in the second quarter of 2007. This is a forward-looking statement. If any part of the following assumptions prove to be incorrect, it is possible that the water inflow may not be sealed off in the second quarter of 2007:

- The two drill rigs on site maintain the current pace of drilling, and

- The concrete hardens as planned to provide reinforcement and prevents or reduces water inflow to enable mine dewatering.

"We are overcoming the challenges related to drilling through the Athabasca sandstone and are now making steady progress toward sealing the inflow area," said senior vice-president Terry Rogers. "There are two drill rigs on site working around the clock and in February a third drill will be brought in for drilling the dewatering holes."

An additional four drill holes are planned for dewatering the mine. After some experience is gained with drilling the larger dewatering holes, we will be able to provide an estimate for their completion. This part of phase one is subject to regulatory approval and our application has been filed with the regulator.

Cameco is preparing a technical report for Cigar Lake to meet requirements under National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators, which regulates public company exploration and mining disclosure. The company expects to complete and publicly release the technical report in late March 2007. A technical report is required to support the disclosure of Cigar Lake remediation.

The content of Cameco's Cigar Lake technical report is prescribed by National Instrument 43-101. The report will include information relating to the geology of the deposit, resource and reserve estimates, the remediation plan including projected timelines, the mining method, a new capital cost estimate (including an estimate of remediation costs) to bring the deposit into commercial production and a projected production ramp up. With the detailed information from this report, we will be able to determine if any Cigar Lake reserves will need to be reclassified from proven to probable as previously discussed. The report is being prepared under the supervision of Cameco technical experts who are qualified persons under National Instrument 43-101.

*Cameco had previously planned to provide preliminary capital cost estimates and timelines for the remediation in February 2007. However, the information will now be available in late March 2007* in order to incorporate the more detailed information compiled in the technical report.

"Cigar Lake is an extremely valuable deposit that is expected to play a significant role not only in Cameco's future but as part of the world's uranium supply," Rogers said. "Given its importance, we believe taking extra time to develop our remediation plans and estimate costs is prudent."

There are about 280 people working on site including drilling personnel working on the remediation program. Work on surface facilities including water treatment plant, mine ventilation fan foundations and an electrical substation continues.


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## 56gsa (3 March 2007)

Cameco still remain positive.....  but end of March report will have timelines....  still lots of IFs

Cameco Updates Progress on Cigar Lake Remediation
17:17 EST Thursday, March 01, 2007

SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN--(CCNMatthews - March 1, 2007) - Cameco Corporation (TSX:CCO)(NYSE:CCJ) continues to make progress on the phased plan to restore the underground workings of the Cigar Lake uranium project after a water inflow on October 23, 2006.

The first phase of the remediation plan involves drilling holes down to the source of the inflow and to a nearby tunnel where reinforcement may be needed, pumping concrete through the drill holes, sealing off the inflow with grout and drilling dewatering holes. Subsequent phases include dewatering the mine, ground freezing in the area of the inflow, restoring underground areas and resumption of mine development. Regulatory approval is required for each phase of the remediation plan.

Eleven of the 14 drill holes planned for reinforcing and sealing off the water inflow area are now complete. (See the diagram posted with this news release on Cameco's website at cameco.com.) Concrete is required in two locations underground - one near the rock fall to seal off the inflow area and another in a nearby tunnel to provide reinforcement. More than 700 cubic metres of concrete have been poured through drill holes into the reinforcement area. The concrete mixture is designed to harden under water and is being poured in successive layers.

*Cameco expects to complete the work necessary to seal off the water inflow in the second quarter of 2007, provided that the current pace of drilling is maintained, and the concrete solidifies as planned to provide reinforcement and prevents or reduces water inflow sufficiently to enable mine dewatering.*

"We continue to make steady progress on the remediation work," said senior vice-president Terry Rogers.

Cameco has applied to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) for approval to drill an additional four, larger-diameter, holes that would be used to dewater the mine. Cameco has secured access to all drilling equipment required for the remediation work.

Cameco is preparing a technical report for Cigar Lake to meet requirements under Canadian Securities Administrators' National Instrument 43-101 which is intended to enhance the accuracy and integrity of disclosure in the mining sector. *As previously disclosed, the company expects to complete and publicly release the technical report in late March 2007*. A technical report is required to support the disclosure of Cigar Lake remediation.

The content of Cameco's Cigar Lake technical report is prescribed by National Instrument 43-101. The report will include information relating to the geology of the deposit, resource and reserve estimates, *the remediation plan including projected timelines,* the mining method, a new capital cost estimate (including an estimate of remediation costs) to bring the deposit into commercial production and a *projected production ramp up timeline*. The report is being prepared under the supervision of Cameco technical experts who are qualified persons under National Instrument 43-101.

There are about 250 people working on site including drilling personnel working on the remediation program. Work on surface facilities including water treatment plant and surface pipelines continues. Construction of the site's electrical substation is complete. Work on ventilation fan foundations will continue during the summer construction season.

The Cigar Lake project is a joint venture owned by Cameco Corporation (50%), AREVA Resources Canada Inc. (37%), Idemitsu Canada Resources Ltd. (8%) and TEPCO Resources Inc. (5%). The project is located in northern Saskatchewan.

The scientific and technical information in this news release was prepared under the supervision of Barry Schmitke, a professional engineer employed by Cameco as the general manager of the Cigar Lake project. Mr. Schmitke is a qualified person for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101.

Cameco, with its head office in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is the world's largest uranium producer. The company's uranium products are used to generate electricity in nuclear energy plants around the world, providing one of the cleanest sources of energy available today. Cameco's shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges.


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## 56gsa (24 July 2007)

Well not cigar this time- but cameco has had to close down their UF6 production plant for min 2 months because of ground contamination - not sure what this means in terms of global supply but CCO down 6% on the TSX overnight


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## Fab (24 July 2007)

56gsa said:


> Well not cigar this time- but cameco has had to close down their UF6 production plant for min 2 months because of ground contamination - not sure what this means in terms of global supply but CCO down 6% on the TSX overnight




Could be good for other producer such as PDN but PDN is down as well today. I am not sure how this work either as I would have expected at least for the other producer to be up today


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