Regulatory review status for the Rook I project

NexGen Energy Ltd. is proposing to develop an underground uranium mine on the Patterson Lake peninsula in the southwestern Athabasca Basin in northern Saskatchewan, approximately 155 km north of the town of LaLoche, Saskatchewan. The main components include:

• an underground mine
• an onsite mill to process an average of 1,400 tonnes of ore per day
• surface facilities to support the short- and long-term storage of waste rock and ore
• an underground tailings management facility
• water-handling infrastructure and an effluent treatment circuit, and
• additional infrastructure to support mining activities.

Before the Commission can make a licensing decision on this proposal, CNSC staff must complete an environmental assessment (EA) under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012. This involves publishing an assessment of the licence amendment and producing an EA report based on the information in NexGen Energy Ltd’s licensing submission, a final environmental impact statement (EIS) and other supporting documentation.

The CNSC's environmental assessment process

CNSC staff must have reviewed enough evidence and be able to show that the proposed mining activities would not cause significant adverse environmental effects before the Commission can proceed with its decision. The CNSC will make this information available as Commission member documents before Part 1 of the 2-part public hearing.

Environmental assessment start date: May 2, 2019
Reference number: 80171

Application submitted
February 14, 2019	NexGen submits and CNSC starts review of licence application
Assessments
May 2, 2019	Notice of commencement of the EA
May 2, 2019	Public comments invited on project description
February 2020	Commission hearing on the scope of the EA
February 20, 2020	Record of decision on the scope of the EA
May 25, 2020	Notice of participant funding offering
June 13, 2022	NexGen submission of draft environmental impact statement (EIS) and licensing documentation
July 14 – October 12, 2022	CNSC and federal indigenous technical review of draft EIS and licensing documentation
July 14 – October 12, 2022	Public comments invited on draft EIS
September 13, 2022 (tentative)	CNSC webinar – CNSC regulatory review process
November 10, 2022	CNSC completes initial review of draft EIS
November 18, 2022	The Federal Indigenous Review Team (FIRT) completes a technical review and deems draft environmental impact statement (EIS) incomplete
September 5, 2023	NexGen submits responses to information requests (IRs)
October 13, 2023	CNSC staff conduct a completeness check and deem responses to IRs insufficient
October 31, 2023	NexGen resubmits responses to IRs
November 15, 2023	CNSC staff conduct a completeness check and determine that adequate information was provided
November 14, 2023 – February 12, 2024	The FIRT completes technical review of revised draft EIS
May 22, 2024	NexGen resubmits revised draft EIS
June 20, 2024	CNSC staff conduct a completeness check and determine that adequate information was provided
June 21 – September 20, 2024	The FIRT undertakes a technical review of the revised draft EIS
November 19, 2024	The FIRT completes its technical review and all IR responses are deemed as accepted
November 29, 2024	NexGen submission of final EIS
November 29, 2024 – January 28, 2025	CNSC staff undertake a review of the final EIS package
January 28, 2025	CNSC staff complete review of final EIS package, and final EIS deemed acceptable
TBD	CNSC staff licensing Commission member document (CMD) and EA report available for public review
TBD	Public intervention deadline
Public hearing
To be confirmed
Commission decisions
Record of decision on the scope of the EA
Licence issued
To be confirmed
Compliance activities
To be confirmed

Contact

For general CNSC updates, subscribe to the CNSC’s mailing list. For information directly related to this project, please contact:

Environmental Assessment Division
Email: ea-ee@cnsc-ccsn.gc.ca
Telephone: 613-995-7948 or 1-800-668-5284
Fax: 613-995-5086
Mailing address: Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
P. O. Box 1046, Station B
Ottawa ON  K1P 5S9