Boss Launches Honeymoon Uranium Project Restart Strategy

Boss Resources (ASX:BOE) has commenced a three-phase restart strategy at the Honeymoon uranium project in South Australia, the company announced on Monday (July 2).

The announcement follows an almost three-year long technical and commercial de-risking initiative the company first began in 2015 shortly after acquiring the site.

According to the company, Honeymoon is located in one of Australia’s premier uranium mining districts. To date, Boss has received approved Heritage and Native Title mining agreements and is fully permitted to commence uranium operations with an export license as well.

“Phase one of the restart strategy has commenced and the company’s initial activities are focused on the planning and preparation of the infill and step-out drill program,” Duncan Craib, resources managing director at Boss, said. “Consultants and engineering support for optimization and trade-off studies have been identified and proposals are currently being finalized.”

Boss has already completed a pre-feasibility study (PFS) at the site with favorable results. Honeymoon is expected to produce an average of 3.2 million pounds (Mlbs) of uranium annually with an average life-on-mine all in sustaining cost (AISC) of US$23.90/lb. Direct operating cost (at mine gate) or cash costs stand at US$15.60/lb U308 equivalent.

The PFS also indicated a mineral resources and ore reserve (JORC) of 63.3Mlb U308, as well as potential for a significant resource expansion.

“This is largely made possible by the in-situ recovery methods that account for over half the world’s uranium supply and all of the lowest cost quartile uranium operations globally,” noted the company press release.

Boss has allocated US$68 million (AU$92 million) for mine expenditures, including US$10 million for a solvent extraction plant with a potential restart date slated for the next nine months. An additional US$58 million has been earmarked for an ion exchange plant that will be constructed sometime in the next two years.

Phase one of the process will focus on compiling the necessary data required for the definitive feasibility study (DFS). Phase two, will centre on the completion of the DFS and updating permits.

The final phase covers detailed execution planning and operational readiness. Boss plans to provide ongoing updates throughout the process and expects to begin phase two of the program in early 2019.

“On completion of the three-phase strategy, we will be in a position to make a decision to proceed 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 maximize shareholder value,” said Craib.

Shares of Boss Resources were down 2.86 percent to close at AU$0.068 on Tuesday (July 3). Meanwhile the spot price for uranium was down slightly and sat at US$22.55 midday.

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