The Conversation (0)
Peninsula Energy (ASX:PEN) reported that development of the Lance Projects in Wyoming, USA, continues to be on budget and on schedule for first production later in 2015.
As quoted in the press release:
Wellfield development activities advance with four drill rigs currently installing monitor and mining wells in the first mine production unit, and a fifth drill rig mobilising to the site. Once installed, Strata will use these wells to develop site-specific ground water quality data and to perform an aquifer pump test. This data will then be submitted to the State of Wyoming and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for review and approval.
The foundations are complete for both the Central Processing Plant (CPP) and the Administration Building, and contractor crews are in the process of pouring the slabs for both buildings. Upon completion of the CPP slab, Strata will commence installation of the externally-manufactured ion exchange columns.
The Deep Disposal Well (DDW) has been drilled to its final depth of 8,606 feet and the casing is cemented in place. The injection area for the DDW lies within a 100-foot-thick sand zone in the Flathead Formation. The depth of the formation and its water quality make it economically impractical for potential non-industrial use – a key criterion in being approved for DDW injection.
Although definitive information will not be available until final well completion work, indications are that the well will provide adequate injection capacity for operations at the Lance Projects.
Alongside construction and wellfield development activities, Strata continues to address the preoperational license conditions imposed by the NRC. These conditions are a regular component of the Source Materials License issued by the NRC, and establish specific conditions to be met prior to commencing production at the project. Strata has submitted documents that satisfy eleven of the seventeen pre-operational conditions, and will complete the remainder of the conditions prior to requesting a pre-operational inspection from the NRC.
Strata Energy CEO, Ralph Knode, said:
We are very pleased with the progress of construction at the site and on the pre-operational license conditions. The project is advancing on budget and on schedule, and we are looking good to start up production operations later this year.
Click here to read the Peninsula Energy (ASX:PEN) press release
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