Modern Mining October 2025

URANIUM

Lotus Resources delivers first product from Kayelekera and eyes new growth opportunities

With first production of yellowcake from its Kayelekera uranium project in Malawi under its belt, ASX-listed Lotus Resources is now focused on achieving steady state production in the coming months while also focusing on taking its Letlhakane uranium project, in Botswana, up the value curve, Lotus Managing Director Greg Bittar tells Modern Mining .

“K ayelekera is a resounding success as our first commercial scale asset, and for Malawi and the host community. We are tremendously excited to be restarting in a strategic window for the uranium market, joining a small number of global uranium producers. Global supply of uranium is well below the current demand by nuclear power plants and the uranium term price, the key indicator for long-term contracts, has increased steadily over the last 3-4 years, with industry analysts predicting further price increases in future.” The miner delivered first product in August 2025, becoming a producer in less than five years since its acquisition of Kayelekera from Paladin Energy in 2020. Lotus Resources has an 85% equity interest in Kayelekera via its local subsidiary Lotus (Africa), with the remaining 15% held by the Malawi government. Having produced ~11Mlb of U3O8 from 2009 to 2014,

Kayelekera had been on care and maintenance for almost a decade following the Fukushima accident and subsequent decline in uranium prices. On the back of an improved appetite for uranium as an energy source, Lotus Resources initiated an accelerated restart of the project in October last year, outlining a timeframe of ten months to production. The company completed a positive Restart Study which determined an ore reserve of 23 mlbs U3O8 and demonstrated that Kayelekera could support a viable operation. The company is targeting steady state production of 2.4 million pounds of U3O8 per year from 2026 onwards for the next seven years. “We aim to achieve steady state production in quarter one of 2026, reaching levels of about 200 000 lbs per month.” The miner adopted an owner-operator mining strategy in favour of appointing a mining contractor, a strategy selected to deliver synergies:

12  MODERN MINING  www.modernminingmagazine.co.za | OCTOBER 2025