Name of the Project
Honeymoon uranium project.

Location
The project is located in South Australia, about 80 km north-west from Broken Hill near the South Australia/New South Wales border.

Client
Boss Resources.

Project Description
The results of an expansion study on the project has motivated Boss Resources to progress to the next stage of development.

The study has identified and detailed the opportunity to restart the 880 000 lb/y plant, currently on care and maintenance, at minimal cost and to operate this during the expansion.

This will generate early cash flow and ramp up production from the wellfields more effectively.

The base case investigated considers an initial two-million-pound-a-year U3O8 operation ramping up to 3.6-million pounds a year (potentially in the fifth year of operation). The preferred route, based on economics and project risk, is a hybrid of ion exchange and solvent extraction (Eluex), which maximises the use of the existing equipment at Honeymoon.

The study proposes that wellfields for the project will be developed near the Honeymoon facilities, at the Jason’s deposit and near the Gould’s Dam deposit.

Jobs to be Created
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Value
The cost estimates for the base case indicate that an initial capital expenditure of $7-million will be required for the restart of the existing plant, with a further $57-million required to achieve a two-million-pound-a-year throughput.

An additional $85-million will be required to bring Gould’s Dam on line and ramp it up to 3.6-million pounds a year.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Boss Resources has reported a 10% increase in the contained metal endowment at the project.

The increase in the Honeymoon resource follows a 107% increase in the inferred resource estimate for the Jason deposit, which is now at 6.2-million tonnes, grading 790 parts per million (ppm) for 10.7-million pounds of contained uranium oxide (U₃O₈).

The combined Honeymoon project is now estimated to contain a resource of 43.5-million tonnes at 660 ppm for 63.3-million pounds of U₃O₈.

The increase in the Jasons resource resulted from a 77-hole maiden exploration programme undertaken over December and January. The exploration focused on the central portion of the Jasons deposit, and assessed the continuity of the mineralisation trends, as well as verifying historical grade data.

The Jasons region has a further exploration target of between 1.5-million and 6-million tonnes, between 600 ppm and 1 500 ppm, for between 7-million and 18-million pounds of contained U₃O₈, which forms part of a combined exploration target of more than 100-million pounds.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Boss Resources, tel +61 8 6143 6730 or email admin@bossresources.com.au.