(Submitted photo/Cameco)

By paNOW Staff

NUCLEAR ENERGY

A glance back and a look ahead to 2023 for Cameco

Dec 30, 2022 | 12:00 PM

It has been a challenging, yet fascinating year for one of the biggest mining companies in Saskatchewan.

Cameco, one of the largest global providers of uranium, was busy in 2022 and its CEO believes the future looks bright.

In an interview with paNOW, CEO Tim Gitzel reflected on some of the highlights of the year, which included the restart of the mind at McArthur River and Key Lake.

In February, the company announced it would be on a hiring spree to fill the hundreds of positions needed for the mine, which had been closed for four years due to low uranium prices and a weak global market.

But Gitzel said things have changed in the market, despite disruptions at mines in Kazakhstan and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, one of the company’s biggest customers.

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“It really accelerated the move toward western suppliers of Uranium including Cameco and gave us a real boost,” he said.

With the market moving to more western operations, sales were good for Cameco and they anticipate it will continue an upward trend heading into 2023.

The restart of the northern mines, which created roughly 700 jobs, wasn’t the only big deal Cameco made. In October, Cameco said it will form a strategic partnership with Brookfield Renewable Partners to acquire Westinghouse Electric Company, one of the world’s largest nuclear services businesses.

Brookfield will own a 51 per cent interest, while Cameco will own 49 per cent. The companies are still going working through the regulatory approvals needed for the deal.

At the time, Cameco said nuclear power is experiencing a resurgence around the world with more than 20 countries across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia pursuing new projects or plant extensions.

“We continue to see positive news for nuclear power around the world,” said Gitzel. “Now it’s become energy security, which is driving policymakers to look at what are our energy options and (there’s) a real renewal of nuclear in many countries around the world.”

While there were some positives in the year, some challenges also came the company’s way in 2022.

Inflation and supply chains were among the big issues, which many businesses across Canada continue to deal with on a daily basis.

While labour shortages have also hit many companies, Gitzel said they’ve been able to add more to the workforce.

“We are blessed at Cameco and in the north, over 50 per cent of our workers come from northern Saskatchewan. When we put out the call for workers, we were overwhelmed with the response,” said Gitzel. “It’s never easy in our business, there’s always challenges that come our way (but) compared to the previous 10 years, things are looking bright for our company and for Saskatchewan.”

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @princealbertnow