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 has announced a restructured board and senior management team to accelerate the development of the project.

With the focus for Kayelekera being on financing, procurement, execution and project delivery, the board decided it was the right time to realign and bolster the senior management team to focus on commercial and project execution, Grant Davey, who has been appointed executive director, has said. Greg Bittar has been appointed CEO and Warren King project director for execution. 

Davey has noted that the board believes the team has the skills and expertise required to drive Kayelekera to become the next meaningful global uranium producer.

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.