Boss Energy set to ignite Australia’s uranium sector with Honeymoon mine restart

Boss Energy (ASX: BOE) is on track to achieve a major milestone with production at its Honeymoon uranium mine in South Australia to commence within weeks.

The restart of production at the historic Honeymoon project will make it Australia’s first new uranium operation for a number of years and comes at a time when global uranium prices are soaring and a major debate underway into the introduction of nuclear power into the local energy mix.

Boss announced the commencement of mining activities at Honeymoon in October 2023, with the first well field being pre-conditioned in the lead-up to in situ recovery feeding the processing plant with extracted uranium during the December quarter of 2023 and has continued to make strong progress since then.

Boss Energy managing director Duncan Craib said commissioning activities at Honeymoon are well on track with the first drum of uranium scheduled to be produced this quarter.

The commencement of production at Honeymoon will top off what has been a highly active stretch for Boss that saw the company sign its first offtake agreement and complete its first international asset acquisition.

Pivotal period

Mr Craib said the December quarter was an extremely pivotal period for Boss.

“We signed our first offtake agreement, which is structured so that we retain exposure to increases in the uranium price and we are generating strong exploration success as part of our strategy to grow the inventory, mine life and production rate,” he said.

“During the quarter, we also laid the foundations for more growth with the purchase of a 30% stake in the Alta Mesa project in Texas.”

“This project has many key similarities to Honeymoon and will enable us to diversify our production base on both a project and geographical basis while driving growth in our production and cashflow.”

“This production and growth outlook is underpinned by a balance sheet with no debt, cash of $227 million and a strategic uranium stockpile now worth $202m based on current spot prices.”

Mr Craib also noted that the company’s successes were reflected in the its recent inclusion in the S&P/ASX 200 index and best 50 OTCQX companies based on total return and growth in average daily dollar volume over 2023.

“The combination of the significant commissioning progress and ramp-up at Honeymoon, the exploration success which will underpin growth there, the Alta Mesa acquisition and our very strong balance sheet and impending cashflow means we are ideally positioned to capitalise on the strong demand for uranium from tier-one locations.”

Exploration areas added

Adding to its already strong profile in South Australia, Boss was awarded four highly-prospective exploration tenements by the state’s government under a minerals rights sharing arrangement with copper developer Coda Minerals (ASX: COD).

The tenements were applied for as part of an exploration licence application process and form the Kinloch Project, located approximately 130km south of the Honeymoon mine.

The geological setting of the area is broadly analogous to the Lake Eyre Basin to the north, where Boss is actively exploring palaeovalley-hosted uranium deposits including Honeymoon, Jason’s, Gould’s Dam, Billeroo, and Sunrise.

Base metals hunt

The December quarter also saw Boss and First Quantum Minerals commence a maiden diamond drilling program targeting base metal mineralisation on the Honeymoon tenements.

Boss signed an exploration earn-in agreement with FQM, a significant Canadian-listed group operating eight mines across four continents, in February 2022.

The drilling campaign will cover three high-priority targets identified from extensive analysis and modelling of geophysical and geochemical datasets, alongside geological logging of historic drill holes at the state core library in Adelaide.

It will comprise at least five diamond core holes for a minimum of 1,800m drilling, with experienced contractor DDH1 chosen to complete the program.