Peninsula Energy has increased the reported uranium resource at its Lance Project in Wyoming to 59.0 million pounds, with the Ross area delivering the clearest gain. The update adds confidence around Mine Unit 4, but remains a mineral resource estimate rather than a reserve or production forecast.
- Lance resource rises 1.7% to 59.0Mlbs of contained U3O8
- Ross resource increases 15.6% to 7.4Mlbs
- Ross now contains 5.9Mlbs in Measured and Indicated categories
- Kendrick and Barber resources remain unchanged
- Further Kendrick drilling is planned
Ross drilling drives Lance resource increase
Peninsula Energy Limited (ASX:PEN, OTCQB: PENMF) has added 1.0 million pounds of contained uranium to its Lance Project resource, taking the total to 59.0 million pounds of U3O8. The 1.7% increase is modest at project level, but the movement is concentrated in the Ross Mining Area, where the resource rose 15.6% to 7.4 million pounds after delineation and development drilling around Mine Unit 4.
The updated Lance estimate comprises 4.3 million pounds Measured, 12.9 million pounds Indicated and 41.7 million pounds Inferred. At Ross, 5.9 million pounds now sits within the higher-confidence Measured and Indicated categories, including 2.2 million pounds Measured and 3.7 million pounds Indicated.
The update arrives as the company’s wider Lance strategy places renewed focus on Mine Unit 4, following a separate disclosure concerning the treatment of legacy assets linked to earlier mine units. The resource announcement itself does not change production guidance, operating costs, cash flow or mine-life assumptions.
Measured and Indicated material gains weight
Across Lance, the 59.0Mlbs resource is contained in 53.9 million tonnes grading an average 0.050% U3O8. The previous estimate, reported as at 31 December 2023, stood at 58.0Mlbs in 52.6 million tonnes at the same average grade. The increase therefore reflects additional delineation and interpretation rather than a material change in the reported average grade.
Kendrick and Barber were unchanged because no drilling occurred within their resource boundaries during the period covered by the estimate. Peninsula plans further delineation and development drilling at Kendrick as future mine units advance, creating a possible source of later resource updates.
JORC estimate carries familiar resource caveat
Independent consultant WWC Engineering prepared the estimate under the JORC Code 2012, using data from more than 10,000 drill holes, including 5,351 holes drilled by Peninsula through 31 December 2025. The estimate assumes in-situ recovery mining and applies a 200 parts-per-million U3O8 cut-off together with a minimum grade-thickness threshold of 0.2.
Those figures describe mineral resources, not mineral reserves. The announcement expressly notes that resources which are not reserves have not demonstrated economic viability, while the estimate applies no mining dilution, ore loss or recoverable-resource adjustment. The competent person assigns a qualitative accuracy of plus or minus 15% at a 90% confidence level for the Measured and Indicated portion; Inferred material carries a lower level of confidence.
That distinction leaves the next test outside this filing: whether drilling around Mine Unit 4 and future work at Kendrick can translate a larger reported resource into economically recoverable reserves and sustained ISR production. The current update improves the geological inventory, but it does not by itself answer the operating or financial questions facing Lance.
Bottom Line?
The useful signal is the gain in higher-confidence Ross material around Mine Unit 4; the harder measure will be conversion into reserves, recoveries and repeatable production.
Questions in the middle?
- How much of the additional Ross resource can ultimately be converted into mineral reserves?
- Will Mine Unit 4 drilling translate into higher sustained uranium production or recovery rates?
- When will Kendrick drilling provide enough new information to materially change the Lance resource profile?