Peninsula Energy says strong uranium grades from its flagship Lance project in Wyoming and a fresh US$56 million funding package have kept its 2027 growth plan firmly in play as the company continues to fine-tune America’s newest commercial-scale, low-pH, in-situ recovery (ISR) uranium operation.
The ASX-listed uranium producer said today its Lance ramp-up is continuing to validate the company’s acid-leach recovery method, with Header House 14 (HH14) in Mine Unit 4 (MU-4) - a portion of the ground embracing the resource - recording average head grades of about 50 to 60 milligrams per litre uranium oxide through May and June.
Header Houses are the principal pump stations for delivering solvent downhole before retrieving the pregnant uranium solution, which is then fed into a central processing plant.
The now-consistent grade is more than double the 22mg/L average recorded historically under the project’s previous alkaline leach regime and gives management confidence that its low-pH leach process is doing the job, liberating and mobilising uranium through the deposit.
Individual patterns in HH14 have returned grades between 154mg/L and 374mg/L, with one well peaking at 476mg/L, pointing to an exceptionally strong grade response as the company builds its operating data across MU-4.
Peninsula has now shifted its near-term focus onto MU-4, scaling back support at two other mining units, where near-term production has been lower-yielding or more maintenance-heavy. The company says MU-4 incorporates the updated wellfield designs and operating lessons it plans to use as the platform for future production growth.
Peninsula has stepped back from its previous 2026 production guidance after slower-than-expected pumping and wellfield flow rates, which management has linked to wellfield gas issues that have affected solution flow rates in some mine units.
Accordingly, Peninsula has withdrawn its earlier 400,000-to-500,000-pound uranium oxide guidance for this calendar year. Management says the setbacks are temporary rather than geological, leaving its much larger 2027 production target unchanged and positioning the project for stronger long-term performance.
Peninsula Energy managing director and chief executive officer George Bauk said: “The year has delivered valuable operating experience and important insights as we continue the transition of Lance into a large-scale low-pH ISR operation. Our focus is now on converting encouraging grades into consistent production through improved wellfield performance, revised operating practices and the operational learnings we have gained during the ramp-up.”
The company is also moving to employ in-house drilling after taking delivery of its first owner-operated rig this week, a change it expects will cut costs, improve flexibility and reduce its reliance on contract drilling services across future wellfield development.
The latest update follows Peninsula’s May financing package, which combined an equity raising with a US$30 million (A$42.8M) convertible debt facility from Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co to fund its MU-5 development, MU-6 early works, a deep disposal well, extra pond capacity and working capital.
The company holds US$47.1 million (A$67.2M) in unaudited cash as of last week, a fully built 2-million-pound-a-year central processing plant and one of the largest permitted ISR uranium resources in the United States.
At a time when the strategic importance of domestically produced US uranium has never been greater, Peninsula says Lance remains well placed to tap a market hungry for secure domestic nuclear fuel supply.
The company says while its production ramp-up has taken longer than expected, its confidence in the long-term value of the Lance project and its ability to create value for shareholders remains undiminished.
If Peninsula can keep pushing its strong grades with a newly-optimised and steadier flow across the field, Lance may yet build into the kind of US yellowcake platform the company has been chasing.
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By Doug Bright
