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Peninsula says Wyoming uranium project restart delayed

Uranium developer Peninsula Energy has pushed back the restart of commercial production at its Lance project, in Wyoming, from the first quarter of this year until mid-2023.

The ASX-listed company on Thursday explained that there had been a delay in the delivery of equipment.

“The Lance project team has been delivering remarkable results in the effort to transform the project facilities and to become the first commercial low-pH uranium in-situ recovery (ISR) operation in the US,” said Peninsula MD and CEO Wayne Heili.

“The current inflationary economic environment and very real supply-chain constraints, in combination with an unusually difficult Wyoming winter, have presented challenges but the team has demonstrated their professional capability and resolve. Despite encountering some delivery delays that are outside of our control, the team continues to complete the transition construction work on a short timeline and within the projected capital framework.”

Heili told shareholders that capital expenditure to date was in line with the 2022 definitive feasibility study (DFS), which estimated a life-of-mine capital cost of $290.6-million, with the Stage 1 operation requiring an up-front capital investment of $2.7-million and a wellfield replacement and sustaining capital expenditure of $16.3-million.

The Stage 2 plant and wellfield expansion would require a further $69.9-million investment, while the wellfield replacement and sustaining capital would require a further $196-million investment.

The Lance project holds a Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant resource of 53.7-million pounds of uranium oxide (U3O8), making it one of the largest uranium production development projects in the US.

The DFS into the Ross and Kendrick production areas estimated that the two production areas could produce a combined two-million pounds of uranium a year at steady-state production from the fourth year of production, producing 14.4-million pounds of U3O8 over an estimated 14-year mine life.