Areva says plans for uranium mine still on track

Areva Resources says plans for a mine near Baker Lake, Nunavut, are on track despite the drop in the price of uranium since the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan last year.

Areva hopes to open its Kiggavik mine as early as 2017.

"Spot prices for uranium are about $51 per pound as we speak," said Scotiabank commodities analyst Patricia Mohr. "Before that event in Japan, they were $66 per pound."

Mohr said she believes they will eventually go back up again and long before any uranium mine opens in Nunavut.

"We keep looking at prices, but the important one is the price when we're making a development decision in a few years," said Barry McCallum, spokesperson for Areva Resources.

"We don't know what that number will be. We know what it would be if it was today, and we'd like a higher price than what it is today."

Feelings are mixed in the region over the potential development.

The Nunavut government held public forums in 2011 to develop a uranium mining policy.

Areva will submit a detailed mine plan on its Kiggavik project to Nunavut regulators in the next week.