Name and Location
Cigar Lake uranium mine project, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Client
Cigar Lake is owned by Cameco (50%), Areva (37%), Idemitsu Canada Resources (8%) and Tokyo Electric Power Company Resources (5%).

Project Description
Cigar Lake is the second-biggest high-grade uranium deposit in the world.

The Cigar Lake deposit occurs at depths ranging between 410 m and 450 m below the surface where water-saturated Athabasca sandstone meets the underlying basement rocks. Owing to geological conditions, it is necessary to freeze the deposit and surrounding rock to improve the ground stability and prevent groundwater inflows to the mine. This has proven to be effective.

The jet boring mining method was selected for the Cigar Lake deposit after extensive testing. Operated from tunnels in the basement rock below the orebody, the method entails using high-pressure water jets to mine out cavities in the orebody. A mixture of ore and water will be piped away from the cavities to underground processing circuits, where it will be ground, thickened and pumped to the surface for transportation to Areva Resources Canada’s McClean Lake mill for processing to uranium concentrate.

Value
Not stated.

Duration
Production is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2014.

Latest Developments
Construction of the Cigar Lake mine is 97% complete and commissioning of mining systems is well advanced.

Cameco has identified additional work that will delay jet boring in the orebody during commissioning of the underground ore handling facilities in the mine. Based on current information, Cameco expects to begin ore production during the first quarter of 2014.

Further, Areva has determined that further mill modifications are required at McClean Lake and that the mill is expected to begin processing Cigar Lake ore by the end of the second quarter of 2014.

As a result of these developments, Cameco will not meet its forecast production of 300 000 lbs of uranium from Cigar Lake during 2013. Cameco plans to revise its five-year production forecast as part of its yearly reporting for 2013, when further progress on commissioning of the mine and mill is made.

The capital cost of the Cigar Lake project will not be materially impacted on by the additional work required at the mine. Based on preliminary information, the capital cost of the mill modifications is not expected to be significant.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Owing to additional work identified by Cameco, ore production is expected to begin the first quarter of 2014 instead of this year. The additional work is not expected to impact on the capital cost of the project.

Contact Details for Project Information
Cameco director of investor relations Rachelle Girard, tel +1 306 956 6403.
Areva, tel +331 34 96 12 15, fax +331 34 96 16 54 or email press@areva.com.