Canadian uranium miner Cameco Corp will shut the world's biggest uranium mine at McArthur River, Saskatchewan on Saturday, barring a last-minute labour settlement, after the United Steelworkers union said workers would go on strike. Cameco on Wednesday said it issued a lockout notice at the mine and the Key Lake mill. The work stoppage would involve 535 unionised workers at the two sites.
A shutdown would reduce some of the world's excess uranium supply, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Rob Chang said in a note. But it may weaken Cameco's earnings as the company is forced to buy uranium from higher-cost sources, Chang said. Cameco shares fell 2.8 percent in Toronto and 2.2 percent in New York in morning trading.
Uranium spot prices are near a nine-year low, as Japan, previously a major producer of nuclear-fuelled electricity, has been slow to approve reactor re-starts after an earthquake and tsunami destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in 2011. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based Cameco, the world's third-largest uranium miner, said a labour disruption would not affect the company's 2014 uranium delivery commitments, as it can draw on a variety of supply sources.