Cameco announced on Sunday morning that workers would be returning to its Cigar Lake uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan with production expected to start later this week.
About 230 workers evacuated the site on July 1 as a precaution as a wildfire burned close to the operation.
“In consultation with provincial wildfire management officials from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, we believe the risk to Cigar Lake posed by the fire has now subsided,” the press release stated.
Cameco believes the workforce can be safely remobilized and regular operations can resume due to improved weather and smoke conditions, the minimal likelihood of more road closures in the area, and all infrastructure at Cigar Lake remaining intact.
The company is in the process of bringing employees and contractors back to the site. In the coming days, final inspections and preparation of equipment will occur to get the operation ready to return to production.
On Saturday, Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency vice-president Steve Roberts said crews were able to secure all the perimeter around the mine site through aerial operations.
Roberts said the site was considered secure as of Saturday from any direct fire threat.
“But there will be smoke in the area and we will continue to manage this fire with crews, aircrafts and heavy equipment that are already deployed on the scene,” Roberts told reporters Saturday.