Name of the Project
Kayelekera uranium restart project.

Location
Karonga district, northern Malawi.

Project Owner/s
Lotus Resources.

Project Description
Kayelekera, currently under care and maintenance, successfully produced uranium in the past, having delivered about 11-million pounds of uranium to the market from 2009 to 2014.

An accelerated restart plan completed in October 2024 has promised positive operational and financial outcomes, assuming a long-term uranium price of $90/lb.

Under the plan, the life-of-mine (LoM) production target is estimated at 19.3-million pounds of triuranium octoxide over a ten-year mine life.

Potential Job Creation
More than 600 jobs will be created for the local community. The project’s workforce is expected to expand as work progresses, ensuring the mine restarts on schedule.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The restart plan promises a pretax and after-tax net present value of $439-million and $301-million, respectively, with a pretax and after-tax internal rate of return of 80% and 66% respectively. Payback should be achieved within two years.

Capital Expenditure
The October 2024 accelerated restart plan reduces initial restart capital through a phased approach by focusing on capital items essential to the restart, with the remaining capital expenditure (capex) continuing off the critical path to optimise operations and cost structure. 

As a result, the initial restart capex to first uranium production has been reduced to $50-million from $88-million.

Planned Start/End Date
In a statement issued by Lotus on October 8, it reported that the time to first uranium production had been reduced from about 15 months to between eight and ten months by phasing in the completion of nonessential site infrastructure, such as grid power and an acid plant rebuild, beyond first production.

Latest Developments
The successful placement of A$130-million, along with A$25-million cash on hand, at the end of September, as well as an imminent share purchase plan (SPP), have ensured that Lotus Resources is fully funded to restart production in the third quarter of next year, CEO Greg Bittar has said.

“The progress to date is clearly visible, with a whole host of site activities and work streams focused on lifting the tailings storage; and repairing, refurbishing and recommissioning plant and equipment, along with plant structural modifications,” Bittar has reported.

The additional SPP was expected to close on November 14, with a shareholder meeting scheduled for December 6 to approve the second tranche, ensuring that the project is fully funded.

An on-site team of more than 150 expatriate and local personnel has been recruited to accelerate the project’s development. The refurbishment of camp facilities and plant infrastructure is under way.

Key long-lead equipment items, such as a calciner, scrubber and screw feeders, have been ordered, with substantial spares and other essential inventory already secured on site.

The company has also acquired 70 t and 200 t cranes, which will support construction and operations.

Lotus has also repaired and recommissioned several key pieces of equipment, including transformers, an apron feeder, a mineral sizer, conveyors, the preleach thickener and the fire water system.

The engineering, procurement and construction management contract has been awarded to manage the acid plant’s relocation and refurbishment. Additionally, the company has appointed key personnel to lead operations.

The company is also advancing on several fronts, including the design package for the drying and packaging plant, and civil works for the acid plant relocation, expected to start before the end of the year.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Orelogy Mining Consultants (pit optimisation, mine design and production scheduling ore reserve); Gill Lane Consulting (mineral resource estimate); Merrill Ford Independent Metallurgical Operations (metallurgical/process design); Steinert (ore sorting); Nagrom (metallurgical testwork); Senet (process plant and infrastructure, and cost estimate compilation); SLR Consulting (tailings and water); Mine Technics (openpit); SLR Consulting (plant); InfinityCorp (financial model); Dhamana (community and environment); and Mine Earth (mine closure plan and cost estimate).

Contact Details for Project Information
Lotus Resources, tel +61 89 2000 3427 or email info@lotusresources.com.au.