Denison Mines Corp has awarded Wood Canada Limited, a global leader in consulting and engineering, with the construction management (CM) contract to oversee the building of the Phoenix in-situ recovery uranium mine, part of the Wheeler River joint venture project in northern Saskatchewan, Canada.
This is a key milestone for the project and represents another crucial step towards the commencement of construction, Denison notes.
The CM contract currently contemplates procurement and construction management scopes, whereby Wood will be responsible for (i) construction management of the full processing plant scope, (ii) installation of certain site infrastructure, and (iii) integrated project controls, ongoing procurement support, on-site safety oversight, as well as maintaining reporting and performance management standards. The services will be provided by Wood in close consultation with Denison, with members of Wood’s team and Denison’s team holding complementary roles in an integrated project management team.
The selection of Wood for the CM contract provides important continuity between the engineering and execution phases of the project and aims to enable the efficient and reliable delivery of the project during an estimated 24-month construction period, Denison noted.
President & CEO of Denison, said: “In anticipation of receiving our Federal permits to prepare the site and construct the Wheeler River project, we are pleased to announce the award of the construction management contract to our trusted partners at Wood. The selection of Wood for construction management allows us to leverage our long-standing relationship with Wood’s Canadian team, which began with co-authoring the 2023 feasibility study for Phoenix and continued with the detailed design engineering for the project over the last two years.
“We are actively organising our teams, including the onboarding of key construction personnel, to ensure we are ready to proceed with site preparation as soon as possible upon receipt of all required permits. Given Denison’s strong balance sheet, and advanced state of project engineering, construction planning and procurement, we stand ready to make a Final Investment Decision and commence construction shortly after securing federal approval of the Environmental Assessment and Licence to prepare the site for and construct a mine and mill.”
John Day, President of Projects Western Hemisphere at Wood, added: “We value Denison’s continued trust in our team and look forward to working together to lead the Wheeler River project through the construction phase. Having supported Phoenix from the feasibility stage through detailed design, we understand the technical and execution requirements of this project. Our priority is to enable a safe and seamless transition into execution – maintaining continuity of personnel, applying disciplined project management and ensuring a predictable path to first production for this landmark project in the Canadian uranium industry. We look forward to continuing to work as an integrated team with Denison, combining our complementary project, construction and uranium expertise to deliver Phoenix safely and successfully.”
Phoenix is envisaged as a 10-year operation with proven and probable reserves of 220,900 t at 11.6% U3O8 for 56.7 MIb of U3O8, according to the 2023 feasibility study.
Source: im-mining.com
