This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 OTTAWA 001812 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE for EB/ESC/IEC, WHA/CAN, NP/NE 
DEPT pass USTR (Chandler) 
 
USDOC For ITA/MAC - Office of NAFTA Affairs 
 
DOE for Int'l and Policy (Person), IE-141 (Deutsch) and BPA 
(Atkins) 
 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of International 
Programs (Rosales-Bush) 
 
DOE For Energy Information Administration 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EMIN ETRD ENRG KNNP CA
SUBJECT: Canada's Uranium: A primer 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. Canada is the largest uranium producer in the world - in 
2002 production was 11,607 metric tonnes of uranium, about 
one-third of total world production.  Canada typically 
provides 20 to 30 percent of uranium used in the United 
States.  The two main players are Cameco, a Canadian-based 
publicly traded company and COGEMA, the mining arm of the 
international nuclear group, AREVA. Despite low uranium 
prices in the late 1990's and early 2000's, these mining 
firms have invested in new mines and plants, and the 
development of new high-grade deposits means that Canadian 
producers are well positioned to capitalize on future market 
opportunities.  With U.S. electric utilities looking to 
extend their existing plant operating licenses, increase 
("uprate") their power output, and possibly build new 
nuclear plants, Canada's uranium deposits may become even 
more significant for U.S. energy interests in the coming 
years.  Concern does exist within the Canadian uranium 
mining industry, however, that low uranium prices will 
curtail exploration and could scuttle plans to bring new 
deposits fully on line.  End Summary. 
 
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CANADA'S URANIUM DEPOSITS & PRODUCTION 
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¶2. Canada is the world's largest producer of uranium. In 
2002, production, at 13,689 metric tonnes (t) of uranium 
oxide concentrate (representing 11,607 t Uranium), was about 
a third of total world production. Its value was about C$ 
600 million.  All of the active mines, as well as the vast 
reserves, are located in the Athabasca basin region in the 
northernmost quarter of the province of Saskatchewan. 
 
¶3. Canada's low cost uranium reserves (Reasonably Assured 
Resources plus Estimated Additional Resources) are 515,000 
metric tonnes of uranium oxide (U3O8) (437,000 tonnes 
Uranium, 14 percent of world total).  (Note that Australia 
has approximately double the reserves of Canada.) 
 
¶4. Some C$539 million (one C$ currently equals approximately 
US$0.74) was spent on uranium exploration in Canada from 
1986 to 1997 and this led to a sharp increase in recoverable 
resources. Despite depletion from mining, resources have 
further increased slightly since 1997.  Exploration 
expenditure in 1998 was C$60 million, then $49 million in 
1999 and 2000, mostly at established projects. 
 
¶5. Australia's uranium reserves are the world's largest, 
with 28% of the world's total (estimated at about 750,000 
metric tonnes of uranium).  Australia is the world's second- 
largest producer of uranium, responsible for about 19% of 
total global production in 2002, with 6888 metric tones of 
uranium.  In 2002 the United States was the world's eighth 
ranked producer of uranium, producing 919 metric tonnes of 
uranium from mines (as opposed to use of HEU from former 
national military stockpiles). 
 
¶6. Currently, Canada supplies 20 to 30 percent of uranium 
used in the United States - typically this is shipped to the 
United States as Uranium Hexaflouride, which is then 
enriched to become fuel for American light water reactors. 
 
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THE MAJOR PLAYERS 
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¶7. Two producers account for over 90 percent of Canadian 
uranium production. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based Cameco is 
the largest producer in the world with 5479 metric tonnes of 
uranium produced in Canada in 2002.  Cameco was created in 
1988 by the merger of two government corporations, the 
Saskatchewan Mining Development Corporation and El Dorado 
Nuclear Limited.  Cameco is now fully owned by private 
investors after the government of Saskatchewan sold its 10 
percent share in 2002.  The company's 56 million shares are 
traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (symbol - CCO) and the 
New York Stock Exchange (symbol - CCJ).  Cameco also 
operates uranium mines in Wyoming and Nebraska.  The company 
produces nuclear electricity as an owner of, and the sole 
fuel supplier to, Bruce Power's operating nuclear reactors 
in Ontario (four currently operating, two soon to re-start). 
 
¶8. Uranium ore mined by Cameco in Saskatchewan is milled 
into "yellowcake" (a uranium oxide concentrate) at 
facilities also located in northern Saskatchewan.  The 
milled "yellowcake" is then shipped to Cameco's refining 
plant at Blind River, Ontario and conversion plant at Port 
Hope, Ontario for processing into uranium dioxide for use as 
fuel in the Canadian built heavy-water "CANDU" reactors 
located in Canada, Korea, China, and elsewhere. The Port 
Hope facility also produces uranium hexafluoride which is 
shipped to the United States and elsewhere for enrichment 
into fuel for light-water reactors.  The facility at Port 
Hope has a capacity to convert 12,500 metric tonnes of 
uranium per year into uranium hexaflouride. 
 
¶9.   COGEMA Resources Incorporated (CRI) is a wholly owned 
subsidiary of Paris-based COGEMA, itself wholly owned by the 
international nuclear industrial group, AREVA.  CRI is the 
second largest producer of uranium in Canada, with 5425 
metric tonnes of uranium produced in 2002. CRI's activities 
in Canada are limited to mining and milling uranium into 
yellowcake; CRI has no conversion facilities in Canada, but 
exports yellowcake for conversion and enrichment (to France 
and the United States).  CRI's principal mines are McClean 
Lake, and its part ownership in the mines at Cigar Lake and 
McArthur River, all in Saskatchewan. 
 
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NEW HIGH GRADE MINES STARING TO PRODUCE 
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¶10.  Canada is in the midst of a transition from second- 
generation uranium mines (started 1975-83) to new high-grade 
ones, all in northwestern Saskatchewan.  In 1999-2000, mines 
at McArthur River and McClean Lake commenced production, 
producing some 3700 metric tonnes of uranium and 2300 tonnes 
of uranium respectively.  Three more mines (Cigar Lake, 
Midwest and Dawn Lake) are planned.  The Cigar Lake mine is 
closest to opening and is expected to produce 7000 metric 
tonnes of uranium annually once it is on line, around 2006. 
 
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RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AFFECTING URANIUM INDUSTRY 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶11.  Production at Cameco's McArthur River mine, said to be 
the world's largest, was temporarily suspended in April 2003 
due to underground flooding.  Cameco anticipates that 
production at McArthur River will resume in July 2003.  The 
company forecasts that 2003 net earnings will decline by $4 
to $5 million for every month the mine remains inoperable. 
However, Cameco expects to fully deliver on its 2003 sales 
contracts through its inventory and other supply sources. 
 
¶12.  The first labor dispute in the history of Canada's 
uranium mining industry ended after a brief, five-day work 
stoppage in June 2003.  Unionized workers at CRI demanded 
wage increases to be on par with their counterparts at 
Cameco.  Though still below Cameco pay levels, CRI workers 
negotiated a 10.5 percent increase in wages over a three- 
year term.  The short stoppage is not expected to affect 
CRI's production forecasts. 
 
¶13.  CRI is currently appealing a September 2002 Canadian 
Federal Court ruling that cancelled their 1999 operating 
license for the McClean Lake project on the grounds that CRI 
had not conducted an adequate environmental review under the 
Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.  In November 2002, 
the Federal Court of Appeal granted a stay of the previous 
decision while the case is appealed.  Currently, the McClean 
Lake mine is operating under a four-year operating license 
issued in 2001 that increased the mine's production capacity 
up to 3600 metric tonnes of U3O8 per year.  A shutdown of 
the McClean Lake mine would eliminate a significant portion 
of CRI's current uranium production. 
 
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SECURITY OF URANIUM SUPPLY WILL REQUIRE PRICE INCREASE 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶14.  It is not a sure bet, however, that Cigar Lake, Midwest 
and Dawn lake will come on stream as scheduled - or that 
other new resources will be developed.  During a speech to 
investors in March 2003, the CEO of Cameco, Gerald Grandey, 
noted that forecast uranium production will fall short of 
the uranium market's requirements by 300 million pounds over 
the next 10 years.  Although secondary sources (such as 
inventory from ex-military stockpiles) do provide a 
significant amount of uranium for fuel, this contribution, 
according to uranium industry advocates, is still not 
sufficient to make up the shorfall in uranium supply. 
Grandey's analysis is that the capital investment needed to 
cover the deficit "will require higher sustained prices" and 
that he is "convinced it is a case of when, not if, prices 
improve."  Currently, the spot price of uranium is 
recovering from an historic low of US$7 per pound in 2000 to 
almost US$11 per pound currently (though far from the high- 
water marks of US$16 per pound in 1988 and 1996). 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶15. Canada's high-grade uranium deposits in northern 
Saskatchewan offer a secure fuel supply for American nuclear 
power plants.  To ensure that known deposits are brought to 
production, and to encourage further exploration will, 
however, require an increase in the price of uranium, 
according to industry analysts.  GoC officials and industry 
contacts remain interested in maintaining a close dialogue 
with USG in order to address important uranium market issues 
and presumably to encourage uranium industry investment in 
mines and exploration. 
 
Cellucci