Cameco, Orano buy Tepco’s Cigar Lake stake for full mine control

Full ownership of Cigar Lake gives Cameco and Orano something the mine has always needed more of: freedom to move on planning, output and long-term supply strategy without a third partner in the room. The two companies agreed to acquire Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings subsidiary Tepco Resources’ 5% stake in the Saskatchewan joint venture, lifting Cameco’s share to 57.418% and Orano’s to 42.582%.

For Cameco, the purchase price for its portion is about CAD115.75 million, subject to customary closing adjustments. The deal still needs regulatory approval and other standard closing conditions, but it is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026. Once it does, the ownership structure becomes cleaner at exactly the point when uranium supply security is moving back to the center of the fuel-cycle conversation.

Cigar Lake is not just a line item on a balance sheet. Cameco calls it the world’s highest-grade uranium mine, with an average ore grade of 16.33% U3O8. That grade is what makes the asset so valuable, but the geology is also what makes it difficult. The orebody sits in soft Athabasca sandstone at a depth of 480 metres, which is why Cameco built a specialized jet-boring method around freezing the ground and using high-pressure water jets to cut cavities in frozen ore. The slurry then moves through underground grinding and processing circuits before being thickened and sent 70 kilometres to Orano’s McClean Lake mill for conversion into uranium concentrate.

The mine’s scale is already proven. Cigar Lake holds 172.4 million pounds of proven and probable reserves, plus additional measured, indicated and inferred resources. Production started in 2014, and by the end of 2025 the mine had produced about 174.5 million packaged pounds. Cameco’s 2026 outlook calls for 17.5 million to 18 million pounds of U3O8 on a 100% basis, while development work continues toward extending mine life to 2036.

That is why this buyout matters beyond the transaction itself. With Tepco’s stake gone, Cameco and Orano can set the pace on one of the tightest, highest-grade sources in the global uranium chain, and they can do it with a clearer line of sight on the pounds that matter most.