I remember clearly when the Lorado tailings resembled the surface of Mars. As a teenager, we’d walk across tailings field, marveling the rust-red dust, the absence of a single living thing. Nearby Nero Lake was completely clear, no fish, no plants, no living trees around its shore. The tailings field lived on after the mill that produced was demolished, the last point on the map of what had been the Lorado town and mill. Now, even the tailings field is covered, the lake restored. The point on the map has been completely erased, but for the single concrete pad where the mill once stood.
A remarkable achievement, returning the tailings field from a uranium mine back to nature. Hopefully, they have the same success at the Gunnar Mines tailing field to the south.
This summer, the Uranium City Reunion will be held in the Battlefords National Park at the Jackfish Lodge on August 8, 9, 10. For All Uranium City Reunion information, please go to: Friends of Uranium City
Uranium City is one of the most unique, and beautiful, places in the province
With a population anywhere from 70-200 people (depending on who you talk to), Uranium City doesn’t really qualify as a ghost town. Except for the fact that it had a population of 5,000 people in the 1980s.
It’s like an entire community was left behind, amenities and all. But there are still people holding on, ekeing out a living amongst untamed forest and the ruins that are slowly being reclaimed.
Located on the nearly-unreachable top shelf of the province, the community is located on the northern shores of Lake Athabasca over 700 km northwest of Prince Albert.
It’s probably one of the most unique, and beautiful, places in Saskatchewan.