Deal to End Lockout at Canada Uranium Mine
Canadian uranium producer Cameco Corp and the United Steelworkers union, which represents 535 workers at the world's largest uranium mine and a nearby mill, have agreed to a tentative deal ending a nearly two-week lockout, both sides said on Friday. Shortly after the lockout began, the union said outstanding issues included pensions, benefits and compensation for working in a remote region. The previous contract expired on Dec. 31, 2013. Mike Pulak, a staff representative for United Steelworkers, said workers would begin returning to the McArthur River, Saskatchewan mine and Key Lake mill as early as Friday. There was "pressure exerted on all sides equally" to get a deal, Pulak said in a phone interview.
Niger Could Sign Deal With Areva soon
The government of Niger, the world's fourth largest uranium producer, is on the verge of renewing an agreement with French state-controlled nuclear group Areva, the West African nation's mines minister said on Sunday. Niger, one of the world's poorest nations, is pushing to boost revenues from its uranium, but Areva, which dominates the sector in the country, has claimed that increasing royalties would make its operations there unprofitable. "We are very, very close to a deal. All that remains is to finalise it. We will sign in the weeks, or even the days to come," Mines Minister Omar Hamidou Tchiana said in an interview with private television stations Labari and Dounia.
