Overview
Stage | Restarting |
Mine Type | In-Situ |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
|
Production Start | ...  |
Mine Life | 11 years (as of Jan 1, 2022) |
Flagship Lance ISR Project - One of the largest US uranium projects, with a JORC (2012) Resource of 53.7Mlbs¹ U3O8.
The current Lance Project facilities at Ross were constructed in 2015 and operated from 2016 through mid-2019.
Current plant capacity of 0.82 Mlbs U3O8 per year loaded on resins, but licensed to produce up to 3.0 Mlbs U3O8 per year.
Production and LoM plan developed for steady-state production of 1.8 Mlbs U3O8 per year from Ross and Kendrick areas.
Expanded plant construction activities to commence late 2023, following final engineering and procurement work.
Wellfield development and construction activities to continue in advance of production restart. |
Source:
p. 14, 15, 93
Peninsula Energy Limited (PEN) is an ASX listed uranium mining company with 100% ownership of the Lance Project in Wyoming.
The Project was licensed and constructed by Peninsula’s wholly owned US subsidiary Strata Energy Inc (Strata) and commenced commercial operations in 2015.
Contractors
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Summary:
The Project is located on the eastern periphery of the Powder River Basin that comprises mostly Cretaceous–Tertiary sediments.
The uranium deposits present in the Lance Projects are roll front in nature and hosted in 22 stacked mineralized sandstone units separated from different aquifers by impermeable mudstones/siltstones. A review of numerous electric logs indicates the best grades and thicknesses of mineralization are in clean, relatively thick sandstones. Where grades are generally low and thicknesses of mineralized horizons are minimal, the sandstones are interbedded with thin shale and mudstone. Zones of consistent mineralization are characterized by broad widths of clean sandstone bounded on top and bottom by shale beds. The bounding shale horizons are present in all areas where logs were available for review. This configuration is ideal for ISR of uranium.
The primary elements associated with the uranium are molybdenum (Mo), selenium (Se), and vanadium (V). Uranium is generally in the form of uraninite, coffinite, autenite or uranophane; molybdenum as molybdenite; selenium as ferro-selenite; and vanadium as vanadenite or carnotite.
The sandstones that make up the various formations of the Lance uranium deposits were all deposited in a fluvial-marine environment as channel sand or overbank deposits. They are characterised by fining-upward sequences comprising thick, laterally persistent, tabular, sheet-like sandstones.
U ........

Summary:
In December 2015, Strata commenced uranium recovery operations at the Lance Projects, utilizing an alkaline based mining solution. The ore deposit at the project proved only moderately amenable to these alkaline solutions. While flow rates from the individual recovery wells were consistent with what was initially predicted, overall uranium recovery was lower than anticipated due to lower than anticipated head grades returned from the wellfield. Operating results showed that the alkaline based production method did not provide for a viable operation under current and projected uranium market prices. Significant efforts to increase production solution uranium concentrations were only moderately successful. In response to these challenges, the Company conducted a series of research initiatives aimed at improving the operating performance at the Project.
To develop a robust technical basis, the DFS incorporates operational parameters observed in the MU1A Low-pH Field Demonstration. The DFS utilises updated grade and recovery curves, ISR pattern design parameters, and reagent requirement models for both sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide that are based on the Field Demonstration outcomes. Process designs have also been updated according to the learnings of the Field Demonstration. Key changes include:
• A more conservative recovery curve has been modelled in the Ross and Kendrick DFS. The DFS extended the recovery curve by 5 pore volumes (approximately 33%) to a ........

Source:
Summary:

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Projected Production:
Commodity | Units | Avg. Annual | LOM |
U3O8
|
M lbs
| 1.3 | 14 |
All production numbers are expressed as yellow cake.
Operational Metrics:
Metrics | |
Annual production capacity
| ......  |
* According to 2022 study.
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Reserves at December 31, 2021:
Mineral Resource Estimate for Lance Project (Inclusive of Barber Resource Area).
Mineral resource cut-off of the lower of 200 ppm U3O8 or 0.2 GT (grade thickness) has been used.
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
Measured
|
3.4 Mt
|
U3O8
|
491 ppm
|
3.7 M lbs
|
Indicated
|
11.1 Mt
|
U3O8
|
496 ppm
|
12.1 M lbs
|
Inferred
|
36.2 Mt
|
U3O8
|
474 ppm
|
37.8 M lbs
|
Total Resource
|
50.7 Mt
|
U3O8
|
480 ppm
|
53.7 M lbs
|
Corporate Filings & Presentations:
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