Boss Energy has produced the first drum of uranium from its Honeymoon uranium project in South Australia.
The achievement is part of Boss’ commissioning process at Honeymoon, which will see production ramp up to 2.45 million pounds (Mlb) of triuranium octoxide a year.
Boss Energy managing director Duncan Craib described the first uranium drum as a major milestone for the company.
“As well as marking the start of production and cashflow, it shows conclusively that our mining and processing strategy is highly effective,” Craib said.
“This is pivotal because it paves the way for strong organic production growth by unlocking the value of our large resource and leveraging the infrastructure we have in place. We have also made extensive provision in the Honeymoon plant for increased throughput.”
According to Boss, Honeymoon is already exceeding feasibility study forecasts, with uranium-rich lixiviant from the wellfields and recoveries of loaded resin in the ion exchange (IX) column producing concentrated high-grade eluate more than the study estimates.
Looking ahead, Boss will accelerate plans to increase Honeymoon’s production rate and mine life. The current mine plan comprises 36Mlb of Honeymoon’s total 71.6Mlb resource.
“Increased utilisation of these highly valuable assets will enable us to further capitalise on the strong outlook for the uranium price while also ensuring we continue to drive superior financial returns,” Craib said.
“We are now accelerating this growth strategy, with geologists already in the field defining the mineral resources at the Gould’s Dam and Jason’s satellite deposits.”
This new milestone follows Boss passing the final technical milestone in its restart strategy.