Slide 2 Frederic Guerin General Manager, Mine Projects AREVA
Resources Canada Inc. Iqaluit April 19, 2012 The Kiggavik Project:
Challenges in designing uranium development in Nunavut Slide 3 NMS,
Iqaluit April 19, 2012 3 AREVA Mines Uranium and Gold GOLD URANIUM
Exploration, Project Development, Mining, Milling and
Decommissioning Diversification Strategy Operating mines in Canada,
Niger and Kazakhstan, Second largest uranium mining producer in the
world with 9,142 tU in 2011 La Mancha (LMA-TSX) 3 operating mines
(Ivory Coast, Soudan, Australia) Slide 4 NMS, Iqaluit April 19,
2012 4 AREVA Resources Canada Saskatchewan Athabasca Basin AREVA
operations McClean Lake Cluff Lake - decommissioned AREVAs minority
interests McArthur River (30%) / Key Lake Cigar Lake (37%) AREVAs
projects Midwest, McClean & Caribou Shea Creek Exploration
program Nunavut AREVAs projects Kiggavik Project (JV AREVA, JCU,
Daewoo) Strong exploration program Slide 5 NMS, Iqaluit April 19,
2012 5 Kiggavik Project Resource 51,000 tU (133 Mlbs) @0.54% U 3 O
8 4 open pits 1 underground mine 1 mill & associated facilities
Project Proposal 2008 Draft EIS Dec. 2011 Construction 2017 Andrew
Lake and End Grid deposits Main, Centre and East deposits Slide 6
NMS, Iqaluit April 19, 2012 6 Kiggavik Main Zone Geology Permafrost
220m 10 -10 m/s < K < 10 -7 m/s Slide 7 NMS, Iqaluit April
19, 2012 7 Kiggavik Project - Key Numbers 25 barges/year Mill feed
3,000 t ore/day Production 3,500 tU/year 3,000 loads/year 600
employees Capex $2.1 billion Opex $240M/yr 6 flights/week Mining
rate 80,000 t /day Slide 8 NMS, Iqaluit April 19, 2012 8
Saskatchewan Deposits Key Technical Challenges Radiation protection
due to high grade uranium ores (locally > 20% U 3 O 8 ) Control
of groundwater (potential for 1,500 m 3 /hr) Ground support in
areas of weak rock These challenges often occur concurrently in the
immediate area of massive mineralizatiom requiring innovative
ground support and mining methods Ground freezing (mass freezing,
frozen walls) Non-entry mining methods (surface access borehole
mining, jet boring system, raisebore mining, roadheader, remote
control) Slide 9 NMS, Iqaluit April 19, 2012 9 Ground freezing
examples 1.5 km Caribou Mine Project McClean North Project Slide 10
NMS, Iqaluit April 19, 2012 10 Jet Boring Systems 1.5 km Surface
access borehole mining with jet boring Cigar Lake Project From
surface Underground Orebody Slide 11 NMS, Iqaluit April 19, 2012 11
Kiggavik Project Saskatchewan challenges are less pronounced Medium
uranium ore grade conditions (vs high grade in SK) allowing the use
of traditional mining methods combined with robust radiation
protection measures Low permeability bedrock and permafrost
conditions reducing groundwater control requirements Reasonable
geotechnical conditions allowing traditional ground support and
mining methods Kiggavik specific challenges Lack of infrastructure
(power, road access) Lack of surface water requiring optimization
of the mill process to reduce water consumption and release of
treated effluent Water and tailings management requirements (in-pit
disposal) interacting with mine planning Slide 12 NMS, Iqaluit
April 19, 2012 12 Tailings Management - Design Principles To avoid
interaction between tailings and natural water bodies To maximize
the use of mine workings for long-term management of tailings To
ensure the long-term protection of Kiggaviks terrestrial, aquatic
and human environment Potential for future deposits to be
considered Stability, integrity and geochemical performance should
not rely on maintaining present temperatures and permafrost
conditions Slide 13 NMS, Iqaluit April 19, 2012 13 Mine planning
1.5 km Mine plan to account for water and tailings management
requirements Water reservoir Pits converted into Tailings
Management Facilities Slide 14 NMS, Iqaluit April 19, 2012 14
Example - Centre Zone Ore824 kt Grade0.476 %U Metal3,925 tU Whittle
Shell Designed Pit 6.8 Mbcm Depth 110m 2.2 Mbcm Optimum pit is
determined then expanded for tailings management purposes Slide 15
NMS, Iqaluit April 19, 2012 15 Proposed Kiggavik Site 1.5 km Slide
16 NMS, Iqaluit April 19, 2012 16 Decommissioning Centre Zone Slide
17 NMS, Iqaluit April 19, 2012 17 Decommissioning Main Zone Slide
18 NMS, Iqaluit April 19, 2012 18 Permafrost vs Climate Warming
Complete melting of permafrost is conservatively assumed to assess
long term performance Slide 19 NMS, Iqaluit April 19, 2012 19
Kiggavik A Long-term Perspective A Large Potential Solid baseline
(approximately 133 Mlbs @ 0.54% U 3 O 8 ) Area is under-explored -
numerous targets Clean ore easy to process Challenges Capital and
operating expenditures Logistics and operating conditions Public
perception Complex regulatory regime Water management, tailings
management & mine planning Slide 20 NMS, Iqaluit April 19, 2012
20 Conditions for continued success Market conditions Regulatory
approvals and social licence To demonstrate that the Kiggavik
Project can be operated in an environmentally, socially and
economically sustainable manner Continued public acceptance AREVAs
track record Uranium in general Slide 21 THANK YOU!
arevaresources.ca Check us out on and Kiggavik Project Blog
www.kiggavik.ca
