Boss Energy has announced that the commissioning process at its Honeymoon project is progressing, with the first uranium sales set for July 2024.
The company said that Honeymoon is exceeding feasibility study estimates, which is reflected in the results of the uranium-rich Pregnant Leach Solution (PLS) from the wellfields, IX column resin loading and high grade IX column eluate.
Tenors from the individual wellfields into the PLS average 80-100mg/L, which is above the assumed PLS grade of 47mg/L in the feasibility study which were based on results from the project’s previous operation.
Boss Energy said that the lixiviant chemistry has demonstrated superior performance at commercial throughput rates, with the increased leach efficiency leading to a more efficient loading on the ion exchange resin, effectively lowering operating costs as less reagents and power are required per drum of uranium.
Demonstrated loading rates of up to 36g/L are 33 per cent higher than feasibility estimates, meaning Honeymoon’s ion exchange circuit is currently making more uranium per cycle than designed. The cost of processing a cycle of ion exchange resin is fixed, which means that higher resin loading will drive a more efficient use of reagents.
Additionally, Boss Energy said that the stripping of uranium from the loaded resin is virtually 100 per cent, also demonstrating that the ion exchange process is working as designed, resulting in a high grade concentrated eluate greater than 7g/L.
As at 31 March 2024, Boss Energy had approximately $300m in liquid assets, no debt and diversity of supply with no jurisdictional risk. The company said that a strong balance sheet provides it with flexibility to choose when it enters into contracts and to select pricing mechanisms that maximise Boss Energy’s exposure to market upside while limiting risk in softer market conditions.
To date, Boss Energy has entered into two binding sales agreements to sell 1.8Mlbs U308 to major European/US power utilities over eight years from 2024 to 2032.
The company said that its contracting strategy is to monitor the markets and layer in contracts, predominantly market related, to optimise future pricing and, in the near term, to ensure profitability and cash flow as production ramps up.
The first delivery into these contracts is expected to occur in July 2024, with payment expected in the same quarter.
Boss Energy’s Managing Director, Duncan Craib, said, “We are very pleased with the commissioning progress to date. We are meeting or exceeding key feasibility study forecasts and the processing technology is performing as our extensive testwork showed it would.
“These early production results provide confidence that we are on-track to meet our ramp up targets. Ramp-up timing has been designed to align with a rising uranium market. We believe we will be hitting our straps as the uranium price rises in the near term.”
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