Boss Energy gives green light to Honeymoon uranium restart in South Australia

WA-based Boss Energy has confirmed plans to re-start production at South Australia’s Honeymoon uranium mine, with the board approving a $113 million redevelopment.

The company said on Wednesday the final investment decision meant it would now accelerate construction, ensuring Honeymoon remained on track for first production in the final quarter of 2023.

It expected to steadily ramp up production to 2.45 million pounds a year within three years.

The redevelopment is fully funded after Boss recently raised $125m through a share placement and share purchase plan.

“This final investment decision puts Boss firmly on track to be Australia’s next uranium producer,” managing director Duncan Craib said.

“We are fully funded with no debt, fully permitted and extensive infrastructure in place. Our front-end engineering studies are completed and we are ready to order key equipment and start construction immediately.

“This puts us in an extremely strong negotiating position with utilities and ensures we can capitalise on the looming uranium supply deficit.”

In earlier announcements, Boss said it would hire 80 to 100 people for the Honeymoon operations and confirmed on Wednesday it already had a highly-experienced senior project management team in place.

The mine, about 80km north-west of Broken Hill, is expected to have an initial life of 11 years, though that could be extended through nearby satellite deposits. All-in sustaining costs are forecast to be $US25.60/lb over the life of the mine.

It previously operated from 2011 to 2013 and Boss bought it in 2015 from Uranium One for $9m.

Boss shares were down almost 6 per cent to $2.29 at 10.50am.

There are currently three uranium mines in production in Australia, according to the World Nuclear Association: Ranger mine in NT, which is processing stockpiled ore; BHP’s Olympic Dam mine in SA; and the Beverley mine, also in SA.