Production and cashflow ramp-up underway at Honeymoon; Commissioning proceeding to plan at Alta Mesa with production set to start in May
Boss Energy Limited (ASX: BOE; OTCQX: BQSSF; the “Company”; “Boss”) is pleased to provide its first quarterly report as a fully-fledged uranium producer.
Highlights
Honeymoon Uranium Project, South Australia
Successful commissioning at Honeymoon, culminating in Boss producing its first drum of uranium Ramp-up to steady-state production rate of 2.45Mlb of U3O8 per annum now underway This shows that the new processing technology adopted by Boss at Honeymoon, which is central to the project’s operating and financial success, as well as its strong organic growth outlook, is meeting or exceeding the Company’s expectations. Boss is now executing plans to increase the production rate and mine life at Honeymoon. The current mine plan utilises only 36Mlb of the project’s total 71.6Mlb JORC Resource; Boss also has a valid Uranium Mineral Export Permission for 3.3Mlb a year Boss will become a multi-mine uranium producer in 1H 2024, with the Honeymoon and Alta Mesa Projects
Alta Mesa, US (Boss 30%)
Commissioning advancing to plan; First production expected within weeks At steady-state operations, Boss’ share of production will be 500,000lb a year Alta Mesa has significant potential for further resource growth and drying capacity to expand the 1.5Mlb capacity plant
Corporate
Boss continues to strengthen its senior management team in line with the Company’s growing status as a global uranium producer; Highly experienced financial executive Justin Laird was appointed CFO and well-regarded mine production executive Robert Gordon was appointed General Manager Honeymoon As at 31 March 2024, Boss held cash and cash equivalents of A$100M; The Company also holds a strategic inventory of 1.25Mlb of U3O8, which has a current spot market value of A$169M; Boss has no debt
The Company’s new status as a global uranium producer follows a highly successful quarter during which Boss undertook commissioning at its Honeymoon project in South Australia.
This culminated in Boss producing its first drum of uranium shortly after the end of the March quarter.
Boss Managing Director Duncan Craib said:“Production of the first drum of uranium was a major milestone in the growth of Boss and reflects the incredible amount of hard work, technical skill and vision contributed by so many people since our Company acquired the project at the end of 2015.
“As well as being the culmination of this journey, the first drum marks the start of Boss’ next phase, which we believe will be notable for the growth we will generate in our inventory, mine life, production rates and cashflow.
“We are just weeks away from first production at our 30 per cent-owned Alta Mesa uranium project in Texas. The commissioning at Alta is proceeding well and our share of production will be 500,000lb a year once steady-state operations are in place.
“With production at Honeymoon now underway, we have established that the ion-exchange processing route we put in place is extremely effective. In light of this huge success, we are accelerating plans to unlock the vast inventory which sits outside the mine plan at Honeymoon.
“We aim to utilise this additional inventory, much of which is already covered by a Mining Licence, and the additional capacity we have under our existing uranium export permit, to expand the project’s production rate and cashflow.
“This organic growth strategy will enable us to leverage the infrastructure, the inventory and the vast intellectual property we have established at Honeymoon. Growth of this nature delivers superior financial returns rather than merely growing production or resource size for the sake of it.
“As we ramp up production at Honeymoon towards our current target of 2.45Mlbs a year, this organic growth strategy will move into sharp focus.
“This will ensure that Boss increases its exposure to what is a very bullish uranium market, capitalising on what is an exceptional opportunity, while delivering superior financial returns in the process”.
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