Boss Energy has confirmed additional high-grade drilling results from its 30%-owned Alta Mesa uranium project in southern Texas (reports Small Caps).

The data were reported by the project’s 70% owner and Boss joint venture (JV) partner enCore Energy Corp during a campaign designed to expand the producing well-field capacity.

The latest intercepts are believed to follow the pattern of earlier results and significantly exceed the cut-off grade thickness requirements for the in-situ recovery (ISR) of uranium.

Well-field progress

EnCore has also reported good progress at Alta Mesa’s first well-field, with increases in the number of production and injection wells on schedule for 2024 and continuing into the new year.

Drilling started in March 2023, with a total of 749 holes completed through to September.

At present, seven rigs are in full operation at Alta Mesa and Boss said the JV had plans to double that number over the next 12 months.

Official re-opening

The historic Alta Mesa project was officially re-opened earlier this month, establishing enCore as the only uranium producer in the US with multiple production facilities in operation.

It hosts a fully-licenced and constructed processing plant along with an operational well-field, across more than 800 square kilometres of private land and mineral rights.

Production commenced in June and is forecast to ramp up to a steady-state rate of 1.5 million pounds per year, with Boss retaining sales and marketing rights over its pro-rata share.

Eco-friendly extraction

ISR offers a minimally-intrusive, eco-friendly and economically-competitive approach to extracting uranium, especially from lower-grade deposits that might not warrant an investment into conventional open-pit or underground infrastructure.

Unlike traditional mining, ISR does not involve open pits, waste dumps or tailings and instead relies on extraction without disturbing the surface.

The process streamlines permitting, development and remediation processes and once recovery is complete, the land is restored to its original state.

Highly-regulated

ISR technology is a controllable, safe and benign mineral extraction method that is highly regulated in the US and accounts for about 70% of global uranium production.

Many US companies opt for a mix of oxygen and sodium bicarbonate (as opposed to chemicals such as sulphuric acid) in the local groundwater.

This enables it to extract the uranium with minimal environmental impact and at a near-neutral acidity.