About half of the ore mined by the Canadian nuclear fuel giant is now done using automation and AI
But the market for uranium has also been undergoing some major changes due to sanctions on Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine. There have been quite a few changes on the operations front, too.
“That mine incorporates a novel brand new mining method called the jet boring system,” he said, adding it is the only mine in the world using it.
“We are able to extract ore there from the ground, recover it and process it all without any, what I would say, manual intervention of any kind,” Rowson said.
Machine learning and artificial intelligence enter the process when it comes to providing the jet boring machine with instruction and direction. Rowson said Cameco, in collaboration with Saskatchewan Polytechnic, developed a way to program the jet boring machine to adjust its extraction methods depending on the type of rock formation, which allows the machine to mine ore in a more efficient manner. Previously, this programming needed to be done manually.
“The machine is able to process that information and spit out usable information about how to excavate the rock,” he said.
“No technology ever has or will be a magic bullet for industry at large or in any specific operational context,” Deloitte said in a recent report. “At the same time, the mining industry is learning that AI-related technologies can help frontline workers make better decisions quicker, while reducing human error, environmental footprints and the need for human intervention in potentially dangerous situations.”
“In potash, we are targeting 40 to 50 per cent of ore tonnes cut using automation by 2026,” he said.
Chris Reynolds, Nutrien’s executive vice-president and president of the potash business, said automation technology was historically developed with safety in mind, but it has also proven to be helpful when it comes to increasing productivity. He said using automated mining equipment means work doesn’t need to be stopped when unstable ground is encountered.
“Now, with this automation, there’s no risk to anyone; we can mine straight through that ground,” he said.
Rowson at Cameco said improved safety and increased productivity have driven much of the company’s push towards automation. He said that while their facilities were in care and maintenance due to low uranium prices, the company looked for areas where they could make changes.
One of these changes involved Cameco investing in machinery to seal drums of radioactive material at its Key Lake facility. Rowson said this move was primarily driven by the urge to improve worker safety.
“It’d be better if a worker was further away from it and not spending all day beside it bolting up lids on drums,” he said.
Along with improved safety, Rowson said changes such as these have helped the mill improve operations by improving efficiencies and allowing it to employ a smaller number of workers.
Currently, he said roughly half of the uranium ore mined by Cameco is done using some form of automated technology.
While Cigar Lake is a nearly fully automated mine, Cameco’s other facilities are still mining much of their ore via more conventional methods, such as drilling and blasting to extract the ore.
Cameco’s Rabbit Lake mine, which is currently in care and maintenance, normally has workers extracting uranium ore in a much more conventional way.
“Workers are operating drills — drilling with blast — and loading the broken rock out with the loaders,” Rowson said.