Published: April 22, 2016 |

[Click image to enlarge]

Uranium miner Cameco Corp. announced Thursday it would cut 85 jobs in Wyoming and Nebraska.

The Canadian-based company said the move was a response to a prolonged downturn in prices, which have remained depressed since the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan in 2011.

The majority of Cameco’s American operations are in Wyoming, where the company operates the Smith Ranch-Highland mine near Glenrock and the North Butte mine south of Gillette. The company also has an office in Casper and operates the Crow Butte mine in Crawford, Nebraska.

Ken Vaughn, a Cameco spokesman, said all three of the company’s Wyoming locations would be affected, though he said exact numbers for each facility have yet to be determined. Employees will be notified personally about their status with the company before the end of May, he said.

“It’s an unfortunate reality of the uranium market right now,” Vaughn said.

The layoffs at one of Wyoming’s largest uranium producers come within a wider downturn in the energy market, which has pushed up the state’s unemployment rate in recent months. Wyoming’s unemployment rate was 5.2 percent in March, up from 3.9 percent over the same time in 2015.

In Cameco’s case, the layoffs are a part of larger cost cutting measures undertaken by the company. The company also announced it was suspending production at its Rabbit Lake operation in northern Saskatchewan, where 500 jobs will be eliminated.

Cameco has a U.S. workforce of roughly 255 people, the vast majority of whom are employed in Wyoming. The company’s Crow Butte operation employs 42 people.

Production at Cameco’s mines is expected to fall this year as a result of the moves, dropping from 1.4 million pounds last year to 1.1 million pounds this year.

New wellfield development in the U.S. will be halted while 170 employees will be kept on to maintain existing fields in Nebraska and Wyoming, the company said.

Cameco’s U.S. operations employ in-situ mining techniques, which are more akin to oil and gas development than traditional mining. Water is essentially injected into uranium bearing formations, dissolving the element, which is then pumped the surface.

Permitting and reclamation will continue to ensure that operations can be boosted should market conditions improve, Vaughn said.

Source: (April 22, 2016) Casper Star Tribune

To stop by Cameco’s website, CLICK HERE

Be in-the-know when you’re on-the-go!
FREE eNews delivery service to your email twice-weekly. With a focus on lead-driven news, our news service will help you develop new business contacts on an on-going basis.

CLICK HERE to register your email address.