McArthur River / Key Lake is a mining facility operated by Cameco Corporation in Canada. It produced 7,808 tU/yr in 2024.
The highest-grade uranium mine in the world, with ore averaging over 6% U — roughly a hundred times the global average grade. The ore is so radioactive that it is mined remotely by raise-boring and non-entry methods, then trucked 80 km to the Key Lake mill for processing.
Facility
| Stage | Mining and milling |
|---|---|
| Operator | Cameco Corporation |
| Country | Canada |
| Reported output | 7,808tU/yr |
| Figure applies to | 2024 |
| Status | operating |
| Commissioned | not stated |
| Coordinates | 57.7667, -105.0333 |
Position in the chain
No disclosed capacity, so its share of world mining capacity cannot be stated.
Cameco Corporation also operates:
- Port Hope Conversion Facility (conversion)
- Cameco Fuel Manufacturing, Port Hope (fabrication)
- Cigar Lake (mining)
Other mining facilities
| Facility | Capacity | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Cigar Lake | 6,501tU/yr | operating |
| Husab | 4,437tU/yr | operating |
| Karatau (Budenovskoye 2) | 3,299tU/yr | operating |
| Inkai, sites 1-3 | 2,992tU/yr | operating |
| Akdala and South Inkai | 2,803tU/yr | operating |
| Olympic Dam | 2,693tU/yr | operating |
| Moinkum and Tortkuduk (KATCO) | 2,388tU/yr | operating |
| Rössing | 2,205tU/yr | operating |
| Khorassan 1 | 2,030tU/yr | operating |
| Central Mynkuduk | 1,650tU/yr | operating |
| Budenovskoye 1, 3 & 4 (Akbastau) | 1,545tU/yr | operating |
| Four Mile | 1,503tU/yr | operating |
| Kharasan 2 (Baiken-U) | 1,315tU/yr | operating |
| South Moinkum and Kanzhugan | 1,273tU/yr | operating |
| Khiagda | 1,103tU/yr | operating |
| Priargunsky | 1,047tU/yr | operating |
| Somaïr (Arlit) | 960tU/yr | operating |
| Irkol | 940tU/yr | operating |
| Yining | 850tU/yr | operating |
| Western Mynkuduk (Appak) | 830tU/yr | operating |
| North and South Karamurun | 830tU/yr | operating |
| Zarechnoye | 741tU/yr | operating |
| Langer Heinrich | 691tU/yr | operating |
| Dalur | 588tU/yr | operating |
Sources
- World Nuclear Association, World Uranium Mining Production · retrieved 2026-09-06