Stage 2
Commissioning of the US$50 million Stage 2 production expansion to 3.7Mlb U3O8 per year has been completed and nameplate production was realised prior to year end 2009 in the December month.
Stage 3
Construction on the Stage 3 expansion to take LHM from 3.7Mlb pa to 5.2Mlb pa is progressing well and is currently causing very limited interruptions on the normal plant operations. During the next 3 quarters, however, some plant operating downtime is expected to facilitate the tie-in of major components. In some instances the tie-ins will start contributing to increased performance of the existing plant.
Stage 4
The drilling programme to upgrade the bulk of the previously defined uranium resources to the Indicated and Measured JORC categories was completed in May. A total of 1,203 holes for 38,592m were drilled. An upgraded resource estimate is expected in the next quarter. It will be used for a new reserve estimation to underpin the Stage 4 feasibility study to expand LHM to 9Mlb U3O8 pa.
Mineral Resource Estimate for Details 1 to 7, (250ppm U3O8 Cut-off, depleted for mining)
| 250ppm Cut-off |
Mt |
Grade
% U3O8 |
t U3O8 |
Mlb U3O8 |
| Measured Resources |
32.8 |
0.06 |
19,582 |
43.16 |
| Indicated Resources |
23.6 |
0.06 |
13,276 |
29.26 |
| Measured + Indicated |
56.4 |
0.06 |
32,858 |
72.42 |
| Inferred Resources |
70.7 |
0.06 |
41,557 |
91.59 |
Ore Reserve Estimate (250ppm U3O8 Cut-off) for Details 1, 2, 3 and 5
| 250ppm Cut-off |
Mt |
Grade
% U3O8 |
t U3O8 |
Mlb U3O8 |
| Proved Ore Reserve |
30.0 |
0.06 |
17,924 |
39.50 |
| Probable Ore Reserve |
20.6 |
0.06 |
11,950 |
26.34 |
| Total Ore Reserve |
50.6 |
0.06 |
29,874 |
65.84 |
Ore Reserve has been depleted for mining