The second column is now being commissioned, and managing director Duncan Craib said Boss was on target to achieve its FY25 production target of 850,000 pounds.
Speaking at the Resources Rising Star conference on Queensland’s Gold Coast today ,Craib said Honeymoon had produced 72,516lb of uranium for the months of July and August, up from some 52,000lb for the June quarter.
Honeymoon “put its first yellowcake in a can in April”. With its 30% interest in the Alta Mesa mine in Texas about to achieve a similar milestone, Craib said the company was now the only pure-play multi-mine uranium producer on the ASX.
While the spot uranium price has dipped back below US$80/lb in recent weeks, Craib indicated Boss expected to still be easily cashflow-positive, although the company won’t release its updated costings until all three columns are commissioned.
Each will allow production of around 400,000lbpa uranium.
Column two is expected to start producing this month, and column three to follow in production in December.
As the first new uranium mine in Australia in a decade, and with total resources exceeding 70Mlb in SA alone, Craib said Boss had an enviable first-mover advantage compared to its peers globally.
Rather than waiting for price signals, Boss started redeveloping the suspended Honeymoon asset in 2021, overhauling all of the existing infrastructure to improve production levels.
“We are here for the high prices,” Craib said.
Others will struggle
He said that for a range of issues, including access to water, power, and people, and increased regulation, a lot of projects that claim they will come into production will struggle.
Boss started sales in July, adding cash to its existing A$250 million bank account.
Craib said the company had no requirement to enter into long-term offtake deals. Instead, it will “layer” its contracts to take advantage of the demand for nuclear power.
“The fundamentals have never, ever been stronger, and at around US$82/lb, the price has never been higher going into an upswing,” he said.
Honeymoon and Alta Mesa are coming into a market where key producer Kazakhstan is suffering production issues, adding more upward pressure to prices.
First-mover advantage
Because Boss developed its own in-house expertise, Craib said the company was well placed to examine additional investments, both its SA exploration and development assets and new opportunities in North America.
After all, according to Craib, nuclear power “is recession-proof”. Since plants can’t be turned on and off the demand will always be there for reliable suppliers.
With the first of up to six IX circuits now at nameplate, and Honeymoon’s ramp-up running to schedule, meeting or beating expectations, Craib said there were few companies that could match Boss’ potential to grow with demand.
