- Listed uranium specialist Peninsula Energy (PEN) commits an extra US$3.4 million (A$4.7 million) to early mining prep work at its Lance Project in Wyoming, USA
- The supplementary funding will speed up the potential restart of uranium production operations at the Lance project and bolster Peninsula’s workforce by eight people
- It follows the early completion of field demonstration work for Peninsula’s low-pH in situ recovery (ISR) production process in the area over 2021
- The company will use the extra budget to prepare for uranium production from a new mining area at Lance and drill some extra holes in the new area
- Shares in Peninsular Energy are down 2.86 per cent to 17 cents each at 2:50 pm AEDT
Listed uranium specialist Peninsula Energy (PEN) has committed an extra US$3.4 million (A$4.7 million) to early mining prep work at its Lance Project in Wyoming, USA.
The supplementary funding is designed to speed up the potential restart of uranium production operations from the Lance area once Peninsula reaches a final investment decision for the project.
It follows the early completion of field demonstration work for Peninsula’s low-pH in situ recovery (ISR) production process in the area over 2021. The company gathered sufficient data from the field demonstrations well ahead of schedule, meaning it was able to cut the work program short by some seven months.
Peninsula this morning said it was still analysing the data gathered from the demonstration work.
In the meantime, the extra budget for preparatory work at the Lance project will help the company gear up for uranium production from a new mining area dubbed Mining Unit 3.
This area carries an estimated measured and indicated uranium resource of 1.59 million pounds (721,000 kilograms) of uranium, with an extra 350,000 pounds (159,000 kilograms) in inferred resources.
As part of the early preparatory work, Peninsula plans to re-enter some historical drill holes to update them to a standard appropriate for ISR operations. As part of this plan, the company will also drill 30 extra holes to test the outer limits of the Mine Unit 3 resource area.
Peninsula Managing Director and CEO Wayne Heili said the company has made “significant developmental strides” at its Lance project over 2021.
“The year 2022 is a pivotal year as we advance the project preparations in parallel to completing our technical assessment studies,” Mr Heili said.
“The early preparatory works budget is a modest but important investment that can lead to an accelerated resumption of production.
“We want to position Lance for the best opportunity to resume commercial production operations quickly, efficiently, and successfully, in the event that a final investment decision to restart the project is made in the coming year.”
Other preparatory work at the project will include final engineering designs and modifications for low-pH ISR process facilities and limited production operations at Mining Unit 1 and Mining Unit 2.
Peninsula will also use some of the new budget to increase its staff by eight people, with a planned 37 employees by the end of June this year.
Shares in Peninsular Energy were down 2.86 per cent to 17 cents each at 2:50 pm AEDT. The company has a $169.5 million market cap.