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Frederic Guerin General Manager, Mine Projects AREVA Resources Canada Inc. Iqaluit April 19, 2012 The Kiggavik Project: Challenges in designing uranium.

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Presentation on theme: "Frederic Guerin General Manager, Mine Projects AREVA Resources Canada Inc. Iqaluit April 19, 2012 The Kiggavik Project: Challenges in designing uranium."— Presentation transcript:

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2 Frederic Guerin General Manager, Mine Projects AREVA Resources Canada Inc. Iqaluit April 19, 2012 The Kiggavik Project: Challenges in designing uranium development in Nunavut

3 NMS, Iqaluit – April 19, 2012 3 AREVA Mines Uranium and Gold GOLD URANIUM  Exploration, Project Development, Mining, Milling and Decommissioning  Diversification Strategy  Operating mines in Canada, Niger and Kazakhstan,  Second largest uranium mining producer in the world with 9,142 tU in 2011  La Mancha (LMA-TSX)  3 operating mines (Ivory Coast, Soudan, Australia)

4 NMS, Iqaluit – April 19, 2012 4 AREVA Resources Canada Saskatchewan Athabasca Basin AREVA operations  McClean Lake  Cluff Lake - decommissioned AREVA’s minority interests  McArthur River (30%) / Key Lake  Cigar Lake (37%) AREVA’s projects  Midwest, McClean & Caribou  Shea Creek  Exploration program Nunavut AREVA’s projects  Kiggavik Project (JV AREVA, JCU, Daewoo)  Strong exploration program

5 NMS, Iqaluit – April 19, 2012 5 Kiggavik Project Resource 51,000 tU (133 Mlbs) @0.54% U 3 O 8 4 open pits 1 underground mine 1 mill & associated facilities Project Proposal 2008 Draft EIS Dec. 2011 Construction 2017 Andrew Lake and End Grid deposits Main, Centre and East deposits

6 NMS, Iqaluit – April 19, 2012 6 Kiggavik Main Zone Geology Permafrost 220m 10 -10 m/s < K < 10 -7 m/s

7 NMS, Iqaluit – April 19, 2012 7 Kiggavik Project - Key Numbers 25 barges/year Mill feed 3,000 t ore/day Production 3,500 tU/year 3,000 loads/year 600 employees Capex $2.1 billion Opex $240M/yr 6 flights/week Mining rate 80,000 t /day

8 NMS, Iqaluit – April 19, 2012 8 Saskatchewan Deposits Key Technical Challenges Radiation protection due to high grade uranium ores (locally > 20% U 3 O 8 ) Control of groundwater (potential for 1,500 m 3 /hr) Ground support in areas of weak rock These challenges often occur concurrently in the immediate area of massive mineralizatiom requiring innovative ground support and mining methods  Ground freezing (mass freezing, frozen walls)  Non-entry mining methods (surface access borehole mining, jet boring system, raisebore mining, roadheader, remote control)

9 NMS, Iqaluit – April 19, 2012 9 Ground freezing examples 1.5 km Caribou Mine Project McClean North Project

10 NMS, Iqaluit – April 19, 2012 10 Jet Boring Systems 1.5 km Surface access borehole mining with jet boring Cigar Lake Project From surface Underground Orebody

11 NMS, Iqaluit – April 19, 2012 11 Kiggavik Project Saskatchewan challenges are less pronounced  Medium uranium ore grade conditions (vs high grade in SK) allowing the use of traditional mining methods combined with robust radiation protection measures  Low permeability bedrock and permafrost conditions reducing groundwater control requirements  Reasonable geotechnical conditions allowing traditional ground support and mining methods Kiggavik specific challenges  Lack of infrastructure (power, road access)  Lack of surface water requiring optimization of the mill process to reduce water consumption and release of treated effluent  Water and tailings management requirements (in-pit disposal) interacting with mine planning

12 NMS, Iqaluit – April 19, 2012 12 Tailings Management - Design Principles  To avoid interaction between tailings and natural water bodies  To maximize the use of mine workings for long-term management of tailings  To ensure the long-term protection of Kiggavik’s terrestrial, aquatic and human environment  Potential for future deposits to be considered  Stability, integrity and geochemical performance should not rely on maintaining present temperatures and permafrost conditions

13 NMS, Iqaluit – April 19, 2012 13 Mine planning 1.5 km  Mine plan to account for water and tailings management requirements Water reservoir Pits converted into Tailings Management Facilities

14 NMS, Iqaluit – April 19, 2012 14 Example - Centre Zone Ore824 kt Grade0.476 %U Metal3,925 tU Whittle Shell Designed Pit 6.8 Mbcm Depth 110m 2.2 Mbcm  Optimum pit is determined then expanded for tailings management purposes

15 NMS, Iqaluit – April 19, 2012 15 Proposed Kiggavik Site 1.5 km

16 NMS, Iqaluit – April 19, 2012 16 Decommissioning – Centre Zone

17 NMS, Iqaluit – April 19, 2012 17 Decommissioning – Main Zone

18 NMS, Iqaluit – April 19, 2012 18 Permafrost vs Climate Warming Complete melting of permafrost is conservatively assumed to assess long term performance

19 NMS, Iqaluit – April 19, 2012 19 Kiggavik A Long-term Perspective A Large Potential  Solid baseline (approximately 133 Mlbs @ 0.54% U 3 O 8 )  Area is under-explored - numerous targets  “Clean ore” easy to process Challenges  Capital and operating expenditures  Logistics and operating conditions  Public perception  Complex regulatory regime  Water management, tailings management & mine planning

20 NMS, Iqaluit – April 19, 2012 20 Conditions for continued success Market conditions Regulatory approvals and social licence  To demonstrate that the Kiggavik Project can be operated in an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable manner Continued public acceptance  AREVA’s track record  Uranium in general

21 THANK YOU! arevaresources.ca Check us out on and Kiggavik Project Blog www.kiggavik.ca


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