Mill shortcomings affect Cameco forecast

Uranium output forecasts from Cameco's McArthur River/Key Lake operations for 2008 have been updated by the company to reflect the unexpected impact of a maintenance outage at the Key Lake mill. The mill, which processes ore from the McArthur River mine, took longer than anticipated to restart after a planned maintenance shutdown in August because of "equipment challenges". According to Cameco, its share of uranium production from the mill is likely to be up to 0.8 million pounds U₃O₈ (308 tU) less than its forecast 13.1 million pounds U₃O₈ (5039 tU) for the year. The company says that equipment upgrades to resolve the problems at the mill should help to improve future performance, and 2009 output forecasts remain unchanged. McArthur River/Key Lake is 70% owned by Cameco, with the remaining 30% owned by Areva Resources Inc.