Six of the 14 drill holes planned for reinforcing and sealing off the water inflow area at Cameco Corp’s troubled Cigar Lake uranium mine are now complete.
The first phase of the remediation plan involves drilling holes down to the source of the late October 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 four holes planned for dewatering the mine. About 200 cubic metres of concrete has already been poured in the reinforcement area.
Subsequent phases include dewatering the mine, ground freezing in the area of the inflow, restoring underground areas and resumption of mine development.
Cameco expects to complete the work necessary to seal off the water inflow in the second quarter of 2007.
The company 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.
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