$938 million capped Boss Energy (ASX:BOE) has taken a major step towards the redevelopment of its Honeymoon uranium mine in South Australia today, announcing it had received the key approval for the mine’s restart.
An updated Program for Environment Protection and Rehabilitation has now been ticked off by the SA Department for Energy and Mining.
It will enable Boss to carry out a number of changes from its feasibility study, designed to improve the economics of a project which shut down amid a collapse in uranium demand under previous owners in 2013.
The PEPR will enable Boss to expand its mining footprint over the mine’s 11-year life with a maximum allowable production capacity of 3.3Mlbs of U3O8 pre annum, with processing plant upgrades approved to replace solvent extraction with ion exchange processing and a new calciner to produce a higher value yellowcake product.
Boss, which entered the ASX 300 in the September rebalance, is hoping to tap into expected demand in the coming years from a shortage of nuclear fuel and the revival of interest in nuclear energy amid a push away from fossil fuels.
“We are making rapid progress on site, we are fully-funded through to production, and the outlook for uranium demand is extremely strong as the world prepares to meet its energy needs and carbon emission targets at the same time,” Boss MD Duncan Craib said.
Production at Honeymoon is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2023, hitting a run rate of 2.45Mlbpa within three years.
