NexGen breaks ground on $2.2B uranium mine in Saskatchewan

Key Takeaways:

• Crews have broken ground on NexGen Energy’s $2.2 billion Rook 1 project in Saskatchewan, which is expected to take four years to build and could produce roughly 20% of the world’s uranium supply.
• The mine uses traditional long-hole stoping in solid basement rock and features an underground tailings facility where process waste is returned underground as cemented paste rather than kept in surface ponds.
• Over an estimated 11 year mine life, the project is projected to create hundreds of direct jobs, generate significant government revenues, and strengthen Canada’s position as a major supplier of nuclear fuel.

The Whole Story:

Crews in Northern Saskatchewan have officially broken ground on what could be the world’s biggest uranium mine ever.

NexGen Energy’s $2.2B Rook 1 underground mine is being constructed in the southwestern portion of the Athabasca Basin along Patterson Lake, about 640 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon, near the Alberta border. Work on Rook I is expected to take four years.

Once complete, experts say it could represent roughly 20% of the world’s uranium supply.

The project includes facilities to support the extraction and processing of uranium ore from the region’s Arrow Deposit. NexGen has conducted exploration, geotechnical, and environmental and community studies since 2013 to define the resource and plan operations.

Sinking two main vertical shafts into the earth establishes access to the ore body, with a primary shaft for hoisting material and intake air alongside an exhaust shaft for ventilation and utility routing. Unlike historical Athabasca Basin mines that traverse water-saturated sandstone and demand permanent artificial ground freezing, the Arrow Deposit rests entirely within solid crystalline basement rock starting roughly 100 meters below the surface. This competent rock structure allows crew members to deploy traditional long-hole stoping methods without the continuous power footprint or geotechnical complexity of freeze plants.

Once extracted, the ore transfers to a streamlined surface processing mill designed for a throughput capacity of roughly 1,400 tonnes of ore per day. The monometallic nature of the Arrow ore means the chemical extraction circuit requires far fewer complex separation steps than typical polymetallic deposits, simplifying the overall footprint of the mill building. Water handling infrastructure and multi-stage effluent treatment facilities surround the plant to manage process fluids before discharge back into the environment.

Perhaps the most defining structural engineering feature of the Rook I build is its Underground Tailings Management Facility (UGTMF). Rather than creating a conventional surface tailings pond or dam, construction plans dictate that 100% of processed tailings are returned underground as a cemented paste. This material is pumped into mined-out stopes and dedicated underground storage chambers, backfilling the voids to ensure long-term ground stability while completely eliminating the risk of surface dam failures or long-term surface tailings maintenance.

Supporting the primary mine and mill site is a comprehensive surface infrastructure layout built to handle remote northern Saskatchewan logistics. The four-year construction effort involves assembling an on-site permanent accommodations camp, dedicated power generation facilities, fuel storage tanks, waste rock storage pads, access roads, and an airstrip to ferry crew and materials roughly 155 km north of La Loche.

NexGen’s feasibility study predicts an 11 year mine life and production of 233.6 million pounds of recovered yellowcake from Probable Mineral Reserves. 

Officials say mine provides a major financial engine for both Saskatchewan and Canada, generating hundreds of millions of dollars annually in tax revenues and royalties while creating roughly 350 direct jobs during construction and nearly 500 long-term operational positions, with hiring prioritized for local and Indigenous communities. 

estimated 20% of global uranium demand strengthens Canada’s geopolitical stature as a premier, secure supplier of nuclear fuel in an era of heightened energy security concerns. It also directly supports domestic and international net-zero climate goals by providing the essential clean-energy feedstock required to power zero-emission nuclear energy generation worldwide.