PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The board of ASX- and OTCQX-listed Boss Energy has pulled the trigger on the A$113-million capital spend required for the development of the Honeymoon uranium project, in South Australia.
The decision means that Boss will now accelerate construction, ensuring Honeymoon remains on track for first production in the December quarter of 2023, ramping up to a steady-state rate of 2.45-million pounds of uranium oxide (U3O8) a year.
An enhanced feasibility study, released last year, estimated that the project would have a mine life of more than ten years, at a production rate of 2.45-million pounds a year, at a cash cost of $18.46/lb, and an all-in sustaining cost of $25.62/lb.
Boss previously raised A$125-million in a share placement and share purchase plan in March and holds a strategic 1.25-million-pound uranium stockpile valued at $59.38-million, and the company has no debt, ensuring it has maximum flexibility and pricing leverage in its offtake negotiations.
“This final investment decision (FID) puts Boss firmly on track to be Australia’s next uranium producer,” Boss MD Duncan Craib said.
“We are fully funded with no debt, fully permitted and have extensive infrastructure in place. Our front-end engineering studies are completed and we are ready to order key equipment and start construction immediately.
“This puts us in an extremely strong negotiating position with utilities and ensures we can capitalise on the looming uranium supply deficit.”
Craib said since completing the front-end engineering design study, the company had made rapid progress on several key fronts to minimise the lead time between FID and first production.
Several long lead items have been ordered, including the award of NIMCIX columns tender and the water treatment plant tender, and detailed engineering is underway.
First production from Honeymoon is expected in the fourth quarter of 2023, and the project will ramp up to full capacity within three years.