Notice of Commencement of an Environmental Assessment


Wheeler River Project

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has received a project description from Denison Mines Corp. for the Wheeler River Project, a proposed new uranium mining and processing operation. The proposed project is located in the Athabasca Basin in northern Saskatchewan, approximately 600 km north of the city of Saskatoon, 4 km west of Highway 914 and midway between Cameco Corporation's Key Lake Mill and McArthur River Mine. The proposed Wheeler River Mine would produce up to 5400 tonnes of U­3O8 annually for 20 years.

The proposed project includes underground and surface facilities to support the mining and processing of uranium ore using the In Situ Recovery (ISR) mining method.  The main components include: an ISR wellfield; two freeze plants on the surface to establish a frozen isolated mining chamber underground; an on-site plant to process the mining solution recovered from the ISR wellfield; surface facilities to support the short and long term storage of waste rock; water handling infrastructure and a water treatment plant and additional infrastructure to support mining activities.

The CNSC has determined that the project requires a federal environmental assessment (EA) pursuant to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 (CEAA 2012). An EA under CEAA 2012 is a planning and decision-making tool. Its objectives are to minimize or avoid adverse environmental effects before they occur, incorporate environmental factors into decision making, and identify the elements of a follow-up monitoring program.  The project will also require a provincial environmental assessment (EA) under the Saskatchewan Environmental Assessment Act.

The availability of PFP funding for this project will be announced at a later date.

For further information on this EA, please contact:

Marcelle Phaneuf, Environmental Assessment Officer
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
P.O. Box 1046 Station B
280 Slater Street
Ottawa ON  K1P 5S9
Telephone: 1-800-668-5284
Fax: 613-995-5086
Email: cnsc.ea-ee.ccsn@canada.ca

Document Reference Number: 2

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