As the price of uranium experiences a 15-year high, Australian-based Deep Yellow has reassessed its Tumas uranium project, with positive results.
Tumas is an open pit uranium project in Namibia, South Africa, with an impressive 88.4 million tonnes of reserves.
The company conducted a review into the definitive feasibility study (DFS) for Tumas as a period of inflationary pressure and supply challenges eased.
The re-costing study resulted in positive and negative price outcomes across different aspects of the project, with net savings identified totalling $US24.6 million, reducing the capital expenditure (CAPEX) from the DFS total of $US385.1M ($566.3 million) to the re-costing total of $US360.5 million ($530.1 million).
Life of mine operating costs increased slightly from $US33.99 per pound of uranium to $US34.36 per pound. Deep Yellow pointed the finger at the increasing cost of power, diesel and heavy fuel oil.
A final investment decision for Tumas is expected in the third quarter of 2024.
It comes as uranium enjoys a price hike, with the commodity hitting $US81.45 ($124.05) per pound for the first time in 15 years.
The World Nuclear Association placed global uranium demand for reactors in 2023 at around 65,650 tonnes of elemental uranium (tU). However, by 2040 the Association expects usage to balloon to 87,000 tU at the lower end and 184,300 tU at the higher end.
The bulk of this is driven by the Asia-Pacific region, which has 37 new reactors under construction, accounting for almost 65 per cent of future demand.
The US and Japan are also looking at reopening shuttered nuclear power plants, further driving interest in the commodity.
Uranium’s resurgence has done wonders for emerging Australian uranium companies, like Deep Yellow, with stocks up across the board.
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