Lotus all set for first uranium production

Lotus Resources is eyeing first uranium production from its Kayelekera project in Malawi after securing up to $US38.5 million ($61.5 million) in finance.

Standard Bank Plc has inked two term sheets with Lotus, including $US18.5 million in equipment finance and a working capital facility to the tune of $US20 million.

First Capital Bank is also contributing to the $US18.5 million in equipment finance through its own term sheet with Lotus.

Financing is complemented by Lotus’ recently completed $130 million placement at $0.25 per share. The company also has a $US15 million loan facility with Curzon Uranium at its disposal.

“With the restart capital fully funded to first production by our recently completed $130m two-tranche equity placement, these finance facilities provide Lotus with working capital liquidity and funding flexibility as we rapidly progress our accelerated restart program at the Kayelekera uranium mine,” Lotus managing director and chief executive officer Greg Bittar said.

“The financing banks provided these facilities on very competitive pricing and terms because of the quality of the Kayelekera project and their confidence in the progress of the restart program.”

Lotus is also backed by two conditional offtake agreements totalling 1.5 million pounds of uranium production between 2026–2029.

The company said it expects to be producing uranium from Kayelekera in the third quarter of 2025, with 200 workers currently on-site focused on the mine’s restart.

Kayelekera has a mine life of 10 years, with $US50 million of restart capital expenditure required to restart production. Lotus expects to produce 19.3 million pounds (Mlbs) of uranium across Kayelekera’s life, with 2.4Mlbs produced each year.