Over 1000 jobs are expected to be created as part of a new uranium mine project coming to the Athabasca Basin.

Australian uranium company Paladin Energy was recently approved for its Patterson Lake South project, which is expected to produce 9.1 million pounds of uranium per year once online.

CEO Paul Hemburrow says the $1.2 billion project will require a construction crew of roughly 500 people, plus a team of between 300 and 500 more to carry on operations.

“What we do is employ local people where we can, and that’s our preference in northern Saskatchewan,” he explains. “We’ve started talking with different institutions to look at how we can participate in education, training, and development of local workers.”

He hopes to get shovels in the ground by early 2028 and production underway by 2031.

“It’s a great time to mine uranium today, because of the interest globally in the nuclear energy program. There are more and more reactors being built all around the world with significant demand, but there’s also been an undersupply, an underspending in exploration for uranium.”

He adds that, “There is no better time than now, and there is no better place than Saskatchewan.”

Paladin also operates uranium mines in Australia and Namibia.