Deep Yellow managing director and CEO John Borshoff says the decision to defer the final investment decision on Tumas until March 2025 is minor in the scheme of the long-term aspirations for the project and the company.
The company announced in December 2024 that it was deferring the final investment decision to early March 2025 from Q4 2024.
The deferment results from delays in receiving final costing and quotes for detailed engineering work and the opportunity to undertake further optimisation and enhancements.
Deep Yellow also said the project schedule needed to be refined to arrive at the final investment decision.
Commenting on work completed and progressed during the December quarter, Borshoff said the company has a clear outlook from both the project and uranium market standpoint on ensuring the right platform is established for long-term success.
Borshoff said Tumas is one of the most advanced greenfield uranium development projects available and provides an incredible value-generation opportunity for the company and our stakeholders.
“The delay is minor in the scheme of the project and the company’s long-term aspirations and is in the project’s and our shareholders’ best interest,” Borshoff said.
He said while they continue to progress with early works and expect to be ready to make a final investment decision in March, an improved uranium price will be a primary precondition to starting construction of the processing plant as the current long-term uranium price is not high enough to incentivise greenfield developments.
“We are progressing in debt financing, and with our firm cash reserves, we can make decisions on our terms that are in the best interests of shareholders,” Borshoff said.
The Tumas development has been divided into two clear workstreams: early works and execution phase.
The early works involve non-processing infrastructure, including powerlines, water pipelines, significant roads, site offices, communications, construction camps, and other related facilities managed directly by the Deep Yellow team.
The execution phase is about the processing plant construction and associated works undertaken by the appointed engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) contractor.
Deep Yellow selected Ausenco Services Pty Ltd (Ausenco) as the preferred contractor to deliver detailed engineering services, subject to agreement, for the subsequent EPCM services, with the Tumas execution phase being proactively overseen by the Deep Yellow team to ensure deliverables are achieved according to plan and budget.
