Uranium ore. (Photo 7968842 © Vladvitek | Dreamstime.com)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Clean Energy

B.C. company acquiring majority interest in North Sask. uranium project

Feb 14, 2024 | 5:00 PM

A clean-energy company based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, is the latest to jump on Saskatchewan’s growing uranium market.

Atco Mining is acquiring up to 75 per cent interest in Standard Uranium’s Atlantic Uranium Project in the Athabasca Basin near Wollaston Lake in the top right corner of the province.

Etienne Moshevich, CEO of Atco Mining, told paNOW they’re in the process of creating multiple salt caverns in Newfoundland to help store hydrogen, but they understand it’s not that exciting for shareholders.

So in an attempt to keep their interest, the company decided to look at producing their own resources with the top choice being Northern Saskatchewan’s uranium.

“The Athabasca Basin is by far the best footprint in the world that you want to be in in terms of high-grade uranium,” said Moshevich.

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There were several specific factors as to why Atco Mining wanted to acquire the majority of the project. This includes the cost of uranium, high demand, and the ability to start whenever they want due to the amount of crews already in the area.

“We can literally send the money and drill it the next day,” explained Moshevich.

At this time, drilling is expected to start in a few weeks as the deal is still being finalized.

When it is a done deal, Moshevich said they plan on drilling 10 holes to see what the site has to offer. Because of this, he couldn’t say whether the project would be a big boost to the provincial economy.

“I’m not going to go ahead and say there’s x number of millions of pounds of uranium in the ground, I don’t know, but the only way we’ll know is if we drill.”

Overall, Moshevich does think there’s a possibility it could be very beneficial financially for them and the province.

Meanwhile, the Government of Saskatchewan is happy to see another company from outside the province jumping at the opportunity to take part in the uranium market.

Cory Hughes, the assistant deputy minister of the resource development division for the Ministry of Energy and Resources, said they pride themselves on being a top destination for companies like Atco Mining.

“We have a very stable regulatory system and a very supportive government for uranium.”

Hughes went on to say uranium has a great impact on the provincial economy.

Over 2,000 people work at different sites across Northern Saskatchewan with the entire industry being worth around $1 billion.

Hughes believes these numbers could increase if projects like the one Atco Mining is taking part in pay off.

“We got multiple projects, world-class projects, moving through different phases… so I think its safe to say uranium is going to play a larger role in the economy.”

—

Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow