Cameco Corporation CCJ has confirmed that operations at the Cigar Lake uranium mine and Orano’s McClean Lake mill have resumed and reinforced confidence in its 2026 output targets. The restart follows a temporary suspension announced earlier this month due to operational issues at the McClean Lake mill, where all Cigar Lake ore is processed.
The disruption stemmed from problems at the mill's sulfuric acid plant, which was forced to be shut down for repairs. The McClean Lake mill has now resumed operations. Cigar Lake has begun shipping stockpiled ore to the mill and has restarted production at the mine.
Despite the roughly two-week interruption, Cameco expects no impact on the mine's annual production guidance of 17.5-18.0 million pounds on a 100% basis.
Cigar Lake remains one of Cameco's most strategic assets. Located in northern Saskatchewan, Canada, the mine is renowned for its exceptionally high-grade uranium ore and long reserve life, making it one of the world's premier uranium operations. Cameco recently strengthened its position by increasing its ownership stake in the mine by 2.871 percentage points to 57.418%.
In 2025, the mine produced 19.1 million pounds, with Cameco’s attributable share at 10.4 million pounds. Under its previous 54.547% ownership, the company had projected attributable 2026 production of 9.5-10.0 million pounds. Following the recent increase in ownership, the company is expected to update its attributable production outlook to reflect the same.
The Cigar Lake restart marks the second operational challenge Cameco has successfully navigated this year. In May, the company temporarily suspended operations at its McArthur River mine and Key Lake mill after severe flooding in northern Saskatchewan caused a partial collapse of the Smoothstone River Bridge, a critical transportation route used to deliver supplies to the sites. Cameco quickly established an alternative logistics route, restoring the flow of essential materials and enabling both operations to return to full production within a short period.
Importantly, that disruption also left Cameco's production outlook unchanged. Uranium production is expected to be 14.0-16.5 million pounds from the McArthur River and Key Lake operations, with CCJ’s attributable share at 10-11.5 million pounds. Across its portfolio, Cameco still expects consolidated attributable uranium production of 19.5-21.5 million pounds this year, highlighting the resilience of its operating model despite temporary setbacks.
Peer Energy Fuels UUUU has demonstrated strong production momentum. Energy Fuels has produced more than 1.5 million pounds of uranium in the first half of 2026, already surpassing the lower end of its full-year production guidance of 1.5-2.5 million pounds.
Achieving this level of output within the first six months of the year reflects the strength of Energy Fuels’ operating performance and positions it well to meet, or potentially exceed, its annual targets. Energy Fuels had mined 1.7 million pounds of uranium in 2025.
Uranium Energy UEC produced 32,195 pounds of uranium concentrate at Christensen Ranch in the third quarter of fiscal 2026 ended April 30, 2026. Operationally, Uranium Energy reached a milestone by commencing production at its Burke Hollow project in April. Burke Hollow is the largest greenfield in-situ recovery (ISR) uranium project to enter production in the United States in more than a decade. Uranium Energy expects production to increase in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026 as Christensen Ranch header houses and Burke Hollow contribute for the full quarter.
CCJ’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
Cameco shares have gained 20.2% in a year compared with the industry’s 14.8% growth.
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CCJ stock is trading at a forward price-to-sales multiple of 15.62X compared with the industry’s 5.16X.
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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Cameco’s earnings for fiscal 2026 indicates year-over-year growth of 16.5%. The same for 2027 implies growth of 61.7%.
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While the consensus estimate for 2026 earnings has moved down over the past 60 days, the same for 2027 has moved up, as shown in the chart below.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).