Boss Energy commenced commercial production at its Honeymoon uranium mine in South Australia on January 1, following a strong ramp-up in operations during the December 2024 quarter.
Honeymoon is set to deliver its 2024–25 financial year (FY25) production guidance of 850,000 pounds (lbs) of uranium, with a cost guidance of $37–41/lbs.
The project achieved several significant production milestones during the December quarter, including a 53 per cent quarter-on-quarter increase in uranium drummed to 137,084lbs and a 96 per cent increase in ion exchange (IX) production to 215,319lbs.
“The ramp-up of operations continued to proceed on schedule across all key production metrics,” Boss managing director Duncan Craib said.
“Given this success, we have officially declared commercial production, with cost guidance provided for the second half of FY25 of $37–41/lbs uranium.
“This compares favourably to other uranium development projects and is in line with inflationary increases recorded since the June 2021 enhanced feasibility study.”
Craib highlighted Honeymoon’s technical achievements, stating that the ion-exchange technology is meeting and exceeding expectations.
“(The lixiviant chemistry and adoption of ion exchange processing) measures, which were central to Boss’ re-start strategy, have proved extremely efficient and effective,” he said.
“Remaining construction activities are nearing completion with NIMCIX one two operating at nameplate production and NIMCIX three commissioned and expected to achieve nameplate capacity in February 2025. NIMCIX columns four, five and six will all be commissioned by the third quarter of 2025.”
Despite minor disruptions in October 2024 due to weather-related power supply issues, Boss remains confident in reaching its FY25 production target, with recent daily production rates averaging 3902lbs uranium.
Boss also reported strong financial results for the December quarter, including $252 million in liquid assets and no debt.
The company sold 200,000lbs of uranium at an average realised price of $US77.50 per pound, generating $US15.5 million in revenue.
In addition to Honeymoon, Boss is advancing its 30-per-cent-owned Alta Mesa uranium operation in Texas, which delivered its first uranium shipment during the quarter and is expected to achieve full operational capacity of 1.5 million pounds per annum by 2026.
“These achievements position us for long-term success and creation of shareholder value, maximising our ability to capitalise on what is clearly a new uranium cycle,” Craib said.
“Our production and growth outlook is underpinned by a balance sheet with no debt and liquid assets of $252 million.
“Security of supply is a major concern for nuclear utilities, particularly in the western world, and as a multimine Tier 1 uranium producer, Boss is set to benefit from this changing and growing market”.
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