Cameco suspends Cigar Lake operations again amid climbing COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – December 15, 2020)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Cameco Corp. is suspending operations at its Cigar Lake uranium mine in Saskatchewan for the second time this year to reduce the threat of further spread of COVID-19 into vulnerable northern communities as the province’s coronavirus caseload soars.

The province on Monday reported 267 new cases of the coronavirus and two more deaths. A total of 12,238 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Saskatchewan and 91 have died from the disease since the pandemic began.

Located about 650 kilometres north of Saskatoon, Cigar Lake is the world’s biggest uranium mine, accounting for about 14 per cent of global output.

Cameco only restarted the mine in September after idling it early in the pandemic for about six months because of the risk travel to and from the camp posed to northern Saskatchewan communities.

Over the past few weeks, six workers tested positive for the virus at Cameco’s northern Saskatchewan operations, including three at Cigar Lake.

For the rest of this article: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-cameco-suspends-cigar-lake-operations-again-amid-climbing-covid-19/