Name of the Project
Kayelekera uranium restart project.
Location
Karonga district, northern Malawi.
Project Owner/s
Lotus Resources.
Project Description
Kayelekera, currently under care and maintenance, successfully produced uranium in the past, having delivered about 11-million pounds of uranium to the market from 2009 to 2014.
A restart definitive feasibility study (DFS) confirmed Kayelekera as one of the lowest capital-cost uranium projects worldwide while having the ability to quickly restart production once a final investment decision has been made.
The DFS is based on an ore reserve estimate of 15.9-million tonnes at 660 parts per million uranium for 23-million pounds of uranium.
Average production is estimated at 2.4-million pounds of uranium a year over a 9.5-year life-of-mine (LoM). The LoM includes four years of stockpile treatment.
Potential Job Creation
More than 600 jobs will be created for the local community.
Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.
Capital Expenditure
$88-million.
Planned Start/End Date
Fourth quarter of 2025.
Latest Developments
Lotus Resources plans to raise $30-million through the issue of 100-million new shares at $0.30 apiece to strategic investors.
The placement funds will enable Lotus to accelerate the restart works at Kayelekera mine, and advance works at its Letlhakane project, in Botswana.
Lotus still plans to restart Kayelekera in the fourth quarter of 2025, with priorities being the finalisation of financing and offtake for the project, including the appointment of a debt adviser to assist in the financing process and negotiating offtake agreements with suitable parties that can strengthen Lotus’s position.
Among its priorities is the completion of negotiations and the signing of a power supply and power implementation agreement with Malawi’s electricity utility Escom, which it says is key to achieving reduced operating costs announced in the restart DFS in August 2022.
It is also prioritising a front-end engineering design programme, leading directly into the detailed engineering design phase for the execution of the restart plan.
These studies will confirm the upfront capital cost estimate for the plant refurbishment and new equipment installations so that a control budget can be prepared for the restart; validate the 15-month timeline initially determined for the refurbishment programme; update the operating costs from the DFS, including incorporating new quotes from suppliers; and determine long-lead items and early works programmes.
The placement funds will ensure the delivery of these items and allow for the acceleration of the programme through the ordering of long-lead items and undertaking necessary on-site early works.
Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Orelogy Mining Consultants (pit optimisation, mine design and production scheduling ore reserve); Gill lane Consulting (mineral resource estimate); Merrill Ford Independent Metallurgical Operations (metallurgical/process design); Steinert (ore sorting); Nagrom (metallurgical testwork); Senet (process plant and infrastructure, and cost estimate compilation); SLR Consulting (tailings and water); Mine Technics (openpit); SLR Consulting (plant); InfinityCorp (financial model); Dhamana (community and environment); and Mine Earth (mine closure plan and cost estimate).
Contact Details for Project Information
Lotus Resources, tel +61 89 2000 3427 or email info@lotusresources.com.au.