Canada gives Cameco’s Millenium mine the green light

Exploration camp at the Millennium deposit, on the shores of Slush Lake. Courtesy of Cameco.

Canada’s uranium producer Cameco (TSX: CCO), (NYSE: CCJ) can proceed with its Millennium mine, located 600 kilometres north of Saskatoon, as the provincial government of Saskatchewan approved its environmental impact assessment.

According to CBC.ca, one of the most important aspects of the new uranium project is that it won’t have any mills or long-term waste management facilities at the site. Rather, the radioactive material will be sent to the nearby Key Lake mine for processing.

For years, Canada was the world’s largest uranium producer, accounting for about 22% of world output, but in 2009, was overtaken by Kazakhstan. Currently the country’s production comes mainly from the McArthur River mine, in northern Saskatchewan, the largest in the world.