Boss Energy has announced that the first drum of uranium has been produced at its Honeymoon Uranium Project.
The milestone is part of the commissioning process at Honeymoon, which is expected to see production increase to 2.45Mlb of U₃O₈ a year.
Boss Energy said it has no debt and $298 million of liquid assets including cash, equity investments and physical uranium as at March 31 2024. This equates to almost 70 per cent of the funds Boss Energy has raised since it acquired Honeymoon in December 2015.
Boss Energy’s market capitalisation has grown from $37 million in December 2015 to almost $2 billion in 2024.
Boss Energy paid USD$30.15/lb for its strategic inventory of 1.25Mlbs of U₃O₈ in March 2021 at a total cost of USD$37.68 million (AUD$49.69 million). As at 31 March 2024 the inventory was valued at USD$110 million (AUD$169 million) with the spot price of USD$88/lb.
The company said that Honeymoon is 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 the study estimates.
Boss Energy said that the new processing technology adopted by the company at Honeymoon is meeting or exceeding its expectations.
With the first drum of uranium successfully processed, Boss Energy will accelerate plans to increase the production rate and mine life at Honeymoon.
The current mine plan utilises 36Mlb of the project’s total 71.6Mlb JORC Resource. Half of this Resource is already covered by the existing Mining Licence.
Boss Energy also has a valid Uranium Mineral Export Permission for 3.3Mlb a year.
Boss Energy’s Managing Director, Duncan Craib, said, “Processing the first drum of uranium is a major milestone. 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.”
Mr Craib said that increased utilisation of these highly valuable assets will enable the company to further capitalise on the strong outlook for the uranium price while also ensuring it continues to drive superior financial returns.
“We are now accelerating this growth strategy, with geologists already in the field defining the mineral resources at the Gould’s Dam and Jason’s satellite deposits.
“On behalf of the Board, I sincerely thank our employees, contractors and service providers for their skill and hard work in achieving today’s milestone for Boss Energy. We are also grateful to the governments of Australia and South Australia, Minerals Council of Australia and South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy, our local communities and shareholders for their unwavering support to enable Honeymoon to resume production”.
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