Honeymoon uranium project’s committed expenditure reaches halfway mark
The Honeymoon uranium project is making strong progress with committed expenditure reaching the halfway mark, putting the project on time and budget, ASX-listed Boss Energy reported on Monday.
Committed expenditure under the redevelopment programme has reached the halfway mark, totalling A55.1-million of the budgeted A$104.5-million capital expenditure, excluding a A$7.6-million contingency.
Boss has cash on hand of A$115.6-million and a strategic uranium stockpile valued at A$88.3-million, based on current spot prices, ensuring that it is fully-funded through to production.
“To reach the halfway mark on time and on budget at any project is an outstanding achievement, particularly given the current high-inflation environment and shortages of skills and equipment,” said MD Duncan Craib.
“This result positions Boss to capitalise on the growing demand for uranium, especially from western countries, as leading utilities around the world look to lock in new long-term contracts and diversify from Russia as a supplier.
“The strong outlook is reflected in the growing level of inquiry we are receiving from utilities, which is coinciding perfectly with the development progress at Honeymoon, setting us up for a pivotal second half of the year.”
Craib said the incentive price needed to establish new uranium mines had risen to around $80/lb compared with the current spot price of $48.75/lb. “Costs for new mines, with some notable exceptions, have risen as inflationary effects are included in feasibility studies, meaning the incentive price is now widely seen as being around $80/lb,” he said.
“This will severely restrict the availability of new supply, further helping to ensure the market remains tight.
“There is also a growing push among buyers to reduce their dependence on any individual company or geographic area. The recent contracts signed with developers, despite the availably of lower-cost supply from existing producers, is evidence of this.
“If utilities continue to work towards reducing dependence on Russian supplies, fixed-term uranium demand could increase significantly during 2023, leading to higher term prices,” said Craib.
The Honeymoon project will produce its first uranium in the December quarter, ramping up to a steady-state run of 2.45-million pounds of uranium oxide over a mine life of 11 years.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation