Peninsula locks in big players in completed $70M raise
First commissioned in 2015, Lance successfully used the alkaline leaching method to recover uranium. But as the extremely low price of uranium began to bite in 2019, the company made a strategic decision to focus on transitioning to a lower-cost, low-pH acid system, similar to its competitors.
Test runs in 2020 and 2021 confirmed that Lance ore responded perfectly to the new processing method; But it took another four years of hard work to redesign well sites, secure funding, and secure all-important regulatory approvals before the company could finally restart production.
A fourfold increase in uranium prices and a nuclear-friendly US administration also helped the Peninsula’s comeback.
Peninsula Energy managing director and chief executive George Bauk said: “The strong support we received as part of the equity raise underscores the confidence in Peninsula’s revised production plan and management team and reflects broad recognition of our progress towards becoming a leading uranium producer.”
Lance, one of America’s largest onsite uranium recovery operations, hosts a 58 million-pound JORC-compliant resource in the Ross, Kendrick and Barber counties.
With the processing plant back in operation, Peninsula has set its sights on a tighter, more realistic production plan, starting with 50,000 pounds of uranium in 2025 and ramping up to 400,000 to 600,000 pounds per year by 2026 and 2027. By 2028, the company expects to be in full swing with annual production of up to 1.5 million pounds.
A major operational overhaul at the field has seen wellfield designs optimized, spacing of injection and production wells narrowed to between 30 and 60 feet, and flow rate maintenance plans implemented to improve consistency and reduce costs.
Meanwhile, development and feasibility studies continue on the company’s Kendrick and Dagger satellite projects, where further resource upgrades are expected to support future growth. With a uranium oxide content of over 1000 ppm, Dagger represents a significant step-change opportunity for the Peninsula. There is a separate horizon north of the current project that grades about half that amount.
With U.S. energy policy now heavily focused on nuclear expansion, including plans to quadruple national capacity and ban uranium imports from Russia, the Peninsula’s timing couldn’t be better.
Peninsula Energy, which emerged stronger from the reset process, converted into cash and started production, now seems determined to take its place among America’s new generation uranium suppliers.
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