Boss Completes Phase One of Honeymoon Restart

Australian energy explorer Boss Resources (ASX:BOE) has successfully completed the phase one restart assessment for its wholly owned uranium mine in South Australia.

The initial phase included a detailed review of the existing drying and packing (D&P) circuits, as well as confirmed Boss’ anticipated project costs and production schedule. The review also indicates that the 2017 prefeasibility study’s assumptions for the project remain valid.

The company has already started phase two of the three-stage production restart strategy.

Part of the restart assessment also focused on enhancing the solvent extraction facility’s precipitation circuits.

“The solvent extraction and precipitation assessment identified modifications to improve the circuit as well as changes that may increase the efficiency of the whole process,” Duncan Craib, managing director of Boss Resources, said in the announcement.

Boss also plans to improve the D&P circuits at Honeymoon.

“The D&P work also looked at modifications required to the existing yellow cake drying and packing facility to improve the operability of the plant, and upgrades to support the ramp up of plant capacity of 2 million pounds (Mlbs) per annum U3O8 equivalent,” added Craib.

When fully complete, the uranium company has projected to further expand the production rate to 3.2 Mlbs per annum U3O8 equivalent.

Boss acquired Honeymoon in 2015 and has been working to get the mine in production for the last two years.

Prior to Boss’ ownership, Honeymoon was owned by a number of companies, most recently private entity Uranium One. The mine produced uranium from 2011 until mid-2014 under Uranium One’s leadership.

According to the World Nuclear Organization, “[Uranium One] impaired the Honeymoon project due to continuing difficulties in the production process and issues in attaining design capacity, combined with high mine operation costs.”

Boss Resources purchased Uranium One and its assets in 2015 and has been working to develop the “near-term” deposit since.

Honeymoon is an important uranium project for the continent, as there are only five operable uranium mines in Australia: Ranger, Olympic Dam, Beverley, Four Mile and Honeymoon.

The second phase of the restart strategy includes the completion of the definitive feasibility study, as well as the filing and securing of necessary permits.

Phase three will include detailed planning, operational readiness and a detailed plant design.

“On completion of the three-phase strategy, Boss will be in a position to make a decision to mine, assuming a specified global uranium price has been achieved to satisfy the targeted IRR (internal rate of return) and NPV (net present value) return to shareholders,” notes the press release.

Shares of Boss sat flat on Tuesday (March 19), trading at AU$0.05.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Georgia Williams, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.