Property, plant and equipment

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Property Plant And Equipment [Abstract]

8. Property, plant and equipment

At December 31, 2018


	Land		Plant		Furniture				Exploration
	and		and		and		Under		and
	buildings		equipment		fixtures		construction		evaluation		Total


Cost
Beginning of year	$	5,045,112	$	2,729,635	$	90,817	$	154,731	$	1,120,280	$	9,140,575
Additions		1,944		7,274		-		45,516		628		55,362
Transfers		104,760		20,044		288		(129,436)		4,344		-
Change in reclamation provision [note 15]		132,317		-		-		-		-		132,317
Disposals		(186)		(7,355)		(4,714)		(1,663)		(414)		(14,332)
JV Inkai restructuring^(a)		(245,882)		(109,748)		(6,624)		(5,739)		-		(367,993)
Effect of movements in exchange rates		51,843		15,094		316		56		(3,777)		63,532

End of year		5,089,908		2,654,944		80,083		63,465		1,121,061		9,009,461


Accumulated depreciation and impairment
Beginning of year		2,717,249		1,611,460		80,752		55,832		483,390		4,948,683
Depreciation charge		120,754		111,465		3,217		-		-		235,436
Transfers		13,036		6,333		(322)		(19,047)		-		-
Change in reclamation provision [note 15]		59,616		-		-		-		-		59,616
Disposals		(185)		(5,853)		(4,647)		-		-		(10,685)
JV Inkai restructuring^(a)		(123,919)		(38,783)		(4,441)		-		-		(167,143)
Effect of movements in exchange rates		48,486		12,556		301		14		271		61,628

End of year		2,835,037		1,697,178		74,860		36,799		483,661		5,127,535


Net book value at December 31, 2018	$	2,254,871	$	957,766	$	5,223	$	26,666	$	637,400	$	3,881,926

At December 31, 2017


	Land		Plant		Furniture				Exploration
	and		and		and		Under		and
	buildings		equipment		fixtures		construction		evaluation		Total


Cost
Beginning of year	$	4,979,489	$	2,640,543	$	95,168	$	340,340	$	1,120,641	$	9,176,181
Additions		27,343		13,649		3,521		97,729		1,091		143,333
Transfers		104,134		106,669		(2,455)		(208,359)		11		-
Change in reclamation provision		17,541		-		-		-		-		17,541
Disposals		(4,610)		(4,803)		(4,578)		(74,482)		-		(88,473)
Pre-commercial production revenue^(b)		(22,818)		(6,487)		-		-		-		(29,305)
Effect of movements in exchange rates		(55,967)		(19,936)		(839)		(497)		(1,463)		(78,702)

End of year		5,045,112		2,729,635		90,817		154,731		1,120,280		9,140,575


Accumulated depreciation and impairment
Beginning of year		2,508,212		1,460,953		80,592		80,674		390,164		4,520,595
Depreciation charge		137,853		175,811		6,490		-		-		320,154
Transfers		48,209		(35,243)		(2,451)		(10,515)		-		-
Change in reclamation provision		43		-		-		-		-		43
Disposals		(2,393)		(4,130)		(3,269)		(70,159)		-		(79,951)
Impairment charge^(c)(d)		67,535		25,359		-		55,841		91,046		239,781
Effect of movements in exchange rates		(42,210)		(11,290)		(610)		(9)		2,180		(51,939)

End of year		2,717,249		1,611,460		80,752		55,832		483,390		4,948,683


Net book value at December 31, 2017	$	2,327,863	$	1,118,175	$	10,065	$	98,899	$	636,890	$	4,191,892

Cameco has contractual capital commitments of approximately $16,000,000 at December 31, 2018. Certain of the contractual commitments may contain cancellation clauses, however the Company discloses the commitments based on management’s intent to fulfill the contract. The majority of this amount is expected to be incurred in 2019.

(a) Effective January 1, 2018, Cameco’s ownership interest in JV Inkai was reduced to 40% resulting in JV Inkai being accounted for on an equity basis instead of proportionate consolidation (see note 11).

(b) During 2017, revenues of $29,305,000 from the sales of inventories before the commencement of commercial production of JV Inkai Block 3 were recorded as a reduction of the respective mining assets.

(c) In the fourth quarter of 2017, all remaining proven and probable reserves of our US operations were reclassified to resources, indicating that the mineable remaining pounds of U₃O₈no longer had demonstrated economic viability, but had reasonable prospects for economic extraction. In accordance with the provisions of IAS 36, Impairment of Assets, Cameco considered this to be an indicator that the assets of the two cash generating units in the US could potentially be impaired and accordingly, we were required to estimate the recoverable amount of these assets.

An impairment charge of $184,448,000 ($144,450,000 (USD)) was recognized as part of the uranium segment. The amount of the charge was determined as the excess of the carrying value over the recoverable amount which was based on a fair value less costs to sell model and categorized as a non-recurring level 3 fair value measurement. The recoverable amount was determined to be $133,228,000 ($106,200,000 (USD)) based on the fair value of resources in place using comparable market metrics.

(d) Also in the fourth quarter of 2017, Cameco announced the planned temporary suspension of production at the McArthur River/Key Lake operation. Due to this announcement, the Key Lake calciner project, which is part of the uranium segment and was initially undertaken to allow for an increase in annual production, was re-evaluated. As a result, the Company wrote off $55,333,000 of assets under construction on this project.