Uranium mining in Canada
Canada is the world's second-largest producer of uranium, behind Kazakhstan. In 2009, 20% of the world's primary uranium production came from mines in Canada. 14.5% of the world production came from one mine, McArthur River. Currently, the only producing area in Canada is northern Saskatchewan, although other areas have had active mines in the past. History Discovery of uranium Canada's first recorded discovery of uranium came in 1930, when prospector Gilbert LaBine discovered pitchblende, a major uranium-bearing mineral, on the shores of the Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories. This discovery led Labine's company, Eldorado Gold Mines Limited, to develop the Eldorado Mine at Port Radium, Northwest Territories, in 1932 and a refinery to extract radium from the ore in Port Hope, Ontario, the following year. Post World War II demand During World War II, the demand for uranium exploded as the United States and its allies, Britain and Canada, began the Manhattan Project to produce the first atomic weapons. As a result, in 1943, the Government of Canada expropriated the assets of Eldorado and formed a federal crown corporation, Eldorado Mining and Refining Limited, to oversee Canadian uranium assets. Exploration for uranium was restricted to Eldorado and the