Released on September 30, 2011
The federal and provincial governments will support Genome Prairie in working with the University of Saskatchewan, Contango Strategies Ltd. and Cameco Corporation on an initiative to develop and commercialize innovative technology that will help minimize environmental impacts and associated reclamation costs in uranium mining and milling industries.
Lynne Yelich, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification, and First Nations and Métis Relations Ken Cheveldayoff, on behalf of Enterprise Minister and Minister responsible for Trade Jeremy Harrison, today announced a combined investment of almost $1.5 million toward the creation of new software for Microbial Assessment for Value-Added, Environmental, and Natural Resources (MAVEN).
"Our government's first priority is the economic recovery and we recognize that it will increasingly depend on knowledge and innovation, which are engines of economic growth and job creation," said Yelich. "This project will assist in the reduction of operational costs associated with mining reclamation, ultimately resulting in substantial productivity improvements in the mining industry."
MAVEN software will allow full analysis and application of efficiencies to enable the effective employment of microbes to absorb contaminants and significantly reduce the costs of reclamation. This technology is expected to provide significant savings and strengthen competitiveness within the uranium mining and milling industry and be transferrable to other resource extraction, environmental, human health and agricultural sectors.
"Our rich uranium deposits and considerable mining sector make Saskatchewan an ideal location to develop and commercialize this innovative assessment tool," Cheveldayoff said. "We live in a world that is increasingly focused on environmental responsibility and this tool has the potential to affect this area of concern to the benefit of the mining sector, broader industry and the people of this province."
In addition to economic benefits, the creation and commercialization of this software will help reduce the environmental impacts of uranium mining and milling by the efficient use of naturally-occurring micro-organisms to offset reclamation efforts.
"We are pleased to have the support of the federal and provincial governments for this important project," Genome Prairie Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Reno Pontarollo said. "By using genomics as a tool, we hope to better understand how microscopic organisms can make uranium mining and milling operations more economically and environmentally efficient."
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For more information, contact:
Nicholas Insley
Office of the Minister, Western Economic Diversification
Phone: 613-954-1042
Email: nicholas.insley@wd.gc.ca
Joanne Johnson
Enterprise Saskatchewan
Regina
Phone: 306-787-7967
Carol Reynolds
Government Relations
Saskatoon
Phone: 306-241-9033