Communiqué

McClean Lake Mill to be put on Care and Maintenance in Mid-2010

On December 15, AREVA Resources management informed the employees that the decision had just been made to put the McClean Lake Operation in a care and maintenance mode in the summer of 2010. The mill has been processing stockpiled ore since mining on the site ceased in late 2008.

"Unfortunately, this situation will result in the reduction of about 140 positions from both McClean Lake and our Saskatoon office," says AREVA Resources CEO Vincent Martin. "These are our friends and colleagues on whose behalf we will do everything we can to mitigate the effects of the layoffs."

McClean Lake mill's new ore receiving circuit is built to accommodate high-grade ore from Cigar Lake.

The mill is running out of ore primarily because the Cigar Lake mine has been delayed by water inflows. At this time, it is not know when Cigar Lake will be able to begin production. Low uranium prices and high costs of development have not supported bringing mines like Caribou and Midwest on stream in the short term.

The plan is to bring the mill back into production, possibly on a week-on, week-off basis, about a year prior to the Cigar Lake mine commissioning. The mill would use the remaining stockpiled ore and, subject to approvals, a portion of the ore from McArthur River. The McArthur River ore, which is similar to the Cigar Lake ore, would be used to commission McClean Lake's new high-grade ore mill circuit.

Work continues on the regulatory activities to license the Midwest and Caribou open pit mines, planning activities for a possible McClean underground mine, licensing and planning for the potential hauling of a portion of the ore from the McArthur River mine, and environmental assessment of a potential mine and mill development at the Kiggavik project in Nunavut. As well, AREVA Resources has the largest exploration budget of any of the AREVA entities worldwide, focusing on its high-potential Saskatchewan and Nunavut properties.

By summer of 2010, the JEB mill will have produced about 50 million pounds of yellowcake. As the most innovative uranium mill in the world, it is a huge asset that has a major role in AREVA's future. When it re-starts, it will process ore from Cigar Lake and several other sources for decades to come. AREVA has been in Saskatchewan for about forty years and is committed to continuing for decades to come.