Boss Energy Limited has commenced mining operations on the Honeymoon Uranium Project, with the first wellfield being pre-conditioned for in-situ recovery (ISR), feeding the processing plant with extracted uranium during the fourth quarter of 2023.
Boss has completed significant construction activities, including wellfield development, gypsum repository construction, water treatment, and RO plant commissioning, achieving milestones in pre-conditioning to clean wellfields of unwanted chlorides and calcium.
According to the company, completing these milestones is crucial for Honeymoon to ensure its production in the December quarter of 2023.
Wellfield pre-conditioning is undertaken to remove calcium and chloride from the orebody, allowing for more efficient leaching and uranium capture.
Calcium removal prevents gypsum scale from affecting leaching, chloride removal maximises uranium capture efficiency with ion exchange resin, and acid addition completes calcium removal and pre-conditions the orebody for efficient leaching.
The start-up wellfield’s pre-conditioning work involves meticulous commissioning of each treatment circuit, which is expected to take approximately two months to complete.
The operational workforce has been recruited with experienced personnel to commission and operate the wellfield pre-conditioning process.
The raw water system, the 25,000-tonne gypsum repository, reagent handling systems, and first fills of essential reagents are all in place.
After pre-conditioning, uranium extraction will be initiated through ISR, which involves fortifying groundwater with reagents before injecting a ‘lixiviant’ into the orebody to dissolve uranium. The uranium-rich solution is pumped to the surface and discharged to Pregnant Leach Solution (PLS) process ponds. Uranium is captured via Ion Exchange (IX), precipitated, and calcined to produce a high-quality saleable uranium oxide (U308) product.
“It is a testament to the hard work and effort undertaken by all Boss employees over many years to reach today’s pivotal milestone, the commencement of mining activities on Honeymoon,” Boss Managing Director Duncan Craib said.
Mining operations at the site were suspended in November 2013 due to falling uranium prices. Boss has been conducting technical optimisation studies since acquiring the Honeymoon Uranium Project in December 2015 to enhance its global competitiveness in a tier 1 location.
Boss reported that the project is progressing according to plan, staying on time and within budget as the company prepares for the restart of Honeymoon in a few months.
