NexGen builds scale at Arrow

The entire footprint of NexGen Energy’s (TSX: NXE; NYSE-AM: NXE) proposed Arrow mine is smaller than a university campus, but could produce 21% of the world’s uranium once in production, the company says. The high grade uranium deposit in Canada’s Athabasca basin would produce 25.4 million lb. uranium oxide (U₃O₈) per year over an estimated mine life of nine years — leapfrogging the company into the ranks of top producers among the 36 countries that make up the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. “It sounds like a massive mine, but in reality, we’re talking about 1,000 tonnes of ore per day — it’s a tiny, tiny mine,” says Travis McPherson, NexGen’s vice-president of corporate development. “What’s unique about this is the grade and setting. We have these parallel, vertically stacked sheets of uranium in basement rocks, so they’re very easy to access through a shaft, and it’s very competent.” In addition, Arrow is a basement-hosted (ingress-type) deposit that would not call for freezing to extract mineralization … Continue reading at The Northern Miner.