Wood’s role at Denison’s Phoenix ISR uranium mine: delivery and design notes for engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

First reported on International Mining – News
30 Second Briefing
Denison Mines has appointed Wood Canada Limited as construction manager for the Phoenix in-situ recovery (ISR) uranium mine, part of the Wheeler River joint venture in northern Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin. Wood will coordinate surface plant, wellfield and supporting infrastructure construction for the ISR operation, which replaces conventional underground mining with a pattern of injection and recovery wells in sandstone-hosted ore. The appointment signals progression towards detailed engineering, procurement and constructability planning, with ISR-specific geotechnical, hydrogeological and groundwater control design now moving into execution focus.
Technical Brief
- Appointment of a CM at this stage reduces schedule risk during transition from design to field execution.
Our Take
Among uranium-tagged pieces in our database, Phoenix at the Wheeler River JV stands out as one of the few Canadian projects advancing an in‑situ recovery (ISR) approach, signalling that ISR is starting to move from concept to execution in the Athabasca rather than remaining confined to US and Kazakh case studies.
Northern Saskatchewan uranium projects in our coverage often face elongated permitting and stakeholder engagement timelines, so bringing in a tier‑one construction manager like Wood Canada Limited at Phoenix is likely aimed at de‑risking schedule and constructability issues early in the build phase.
For Denison Mines Corp, Phoenix adds to a small but growing cluster of uranium development stories in Canada within our recent mining coverage, which may give the company more leverage in future offtake or JV negotiations as utilities look for diversified supply outside traditional Kazakh and US ISR districts.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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