stockwatch.com FP/wire say Cameco using AI to help extract uranium
2024-07-16 09:09 ET - In the News
The Financial Post reports in its Tuesday edition that Cameco is experiencing a major evolution in the way it extracts uranium. A Postmedia dispatch to the Post reports that Cameco's Lloyd Rowson says the best example of this change can be seen at the company's Cigar Lake mine. He says the mine uses a new mining method called the "jet boring system." He says it is the only mine in the world using it. The jet boring method uses artificial intelligence alongside machines to extract uranium ore. The ore is frozen before being cut using a high-pressure water jet, and then after being cut, it is transported via pipes to other parts of the mine, where it is treated and prepared for transportation to the milling facility. Mr. Rowson says, "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." Machine learning and AI enter the process when it comes to providing the jet boring machine with instruction and direction. Mr. Rowson says Cameco the jet boring machine is programmed to adjust its extraction methods allowing the machine to mine ore in a more efficient manner. Previously, this programming needed to be done manually.