Boss Energy (ASX:BOE) is working to expedite plans to increase the production rate and mine life at its Honeymoon Uranium Mine in South Australia after producing the first drum of uranium.
The current mine plan for Honeymoon utilises 36 million pounds (Mlbs) of the project’s total 71.6Mlb JORC resource. Half of the resource is already covered by the existing mining licence.
Boss, which has a $1.87 billion market capitalisation, says production follows the successful commissioning process at Honeymoon, which will see output ramp up to 2.45Mlbs of triuranium octoxide (U308) a year.
According to the company, Honeymoon is already exceeding feasibility study forecasts, with uranium-rich lixiviant from the wellfields and recoveries of loaded resin in the IX column producing concentrated high-grade eluate in excess of study estimates.
Managing Director Duncan Craib says the company is already accelerating its growth strategy with geologists in the field defining the resources at the Gould’s Dam and Jason’s satellite deposits.
“Processing the first drum of uranium is a major milestone,” he says.
As well as marking the start of production and cashflow, it shows conclusively that our mining and processing strategy is highly effective.
This is pivotal because it paves the way for strong organic production growth by unlocking the value of our large resource and leveraging the infrastructure we have in place. We have also made extensive provision in the Honeymoon plant for increased throughput.
Increased utilisation of these highly valuable assets will enable us to further capitalise on the strong outlook for the uranium price while also ensuring we continue to drive superior financial returns.”
Meanwhile, Boss is expected to continue driving growth with first production expected within weeks at its 30%-owned Alta Mesa Uranium Project in South Texas, US.
Once a steady-state of operations is achieved at Alta Mesa, Boss’ share of production will be 500,000 pounds per year.
Boss says Alta Mesa demonstrates potential for further resource growth and drying capacity to expand the 1.5Mlb capacity plant after the resumption of production in 1H 2024.
The company currently has no debt and $298 million of liquid assets, as of 31 March 2024 — equal to almost 70% of the funds Boss has raised since it acquired Honeymoon in December 2015.
Write to Adam Drought at Mining.com.au
Images: Boss Energy
