
John Borshoff
CEO: Deep Yellow
‘We’re the only company with genuine greenfield development possibility that can get into production before 2030’
JOHN Borshoff has sometimes been referred to as the ‘godfather of uranium’ due to his long career in the sector, which is nearing 50 years. Despite approaching his 80th birthday, Borshoff’s enthusiasm for all things uranium and nuclear has never wavered. He describes Deep Yellow as a “second rodeo”. Now, his company Deep Yellow looks to be on the brink of building a new uranium mine in Namibia, which would be the fourth overall in the country.
In the first half of last year, the company raised A$250m to advance the Tumas project. Ausenco Services has been appointed as the project engineer, while South African bank Nedbank is the lead arranger for the finance, while the company advances talks with global utilities regarding potential supply contracts. Despite progress through 2024, a final investment decision on Tumas has been extended to March, with the company citing costings delays and further project optimisation. Should Tumas materialise – probably in 2027 rather than 2026 given the delays – it is expected to ramp up to full production of 3.6 million pounds per annum of uranium at all-in sustaining costs of US$38.80 per pound.
Tumas’s ore reserves of 67.3Mlb are enough to support a 22.5-year mine life, but Deep Yellow sees the potential to extend the life to 35-40 years through exploration. The construction of Tumas will be overseen by head of project delivery Jim Morgan, the same man who led the development of Paladin Energy’s Langer Heinrich and Kayelekera mines under the stewardship of Borshoff.
LIFE OF JOHN
Initially starting his career as a nickel geologist, the oil shock of the early 1970s got John Borshoff into the uranium sector, where he’s been ever since. After more than a decade with Uranerz, the German company exited Australia but left Borshoff with its local geological data. Borshoff then founded Paladin Energy in 1993, overseeing the financing, construction and production of two uranium assets before ‘retiring’ in 2015. He was drawn back into full-time work by Deep Yellow in 2016, which he’s led ever since.