Orano Canada is suspending production at its McClean Lake uranium mill in response to the pandemic and Cameco is temporarily suspending production at its Cigar Lake uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan.
Their decisions were made in conjunction with each other.
It was decided to suspend production because of the challenges of maintaining all necessary precautions in light of the COVID-19 threat at a fly-in/fly-out site, and concern for the welfare of the northern communities where many employees live.
There is no specific date for when the operations will be back in production, but Orano Canada President Jim Corman says at this point, it will be at least 4 weeks.

Currently, there are about 160 employees at the mill at one time, following a 2 weeks in and 2 weeks out schedule. Once the mill is in care and maintenance , about 50 employees will be on site to monitor and maintain the facility.
Cameco says at full production, there are typically about 300 people working at the mine and when the suspension is fully implemented, there will be a workforce of about 35.

(picture: McClean Lake Mill)