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Astron reveals key contractor signing for Victorian project
Brought to you by BULLS N’ BEARS
By Michael Philipps
ASX-listed Astron Corporation has locked in a leading Australian firm through an early contractor involvement (ECI) agreement to help deliver the first phase of its Donald rare earths and mineral sands project in Victoria.
Management today confirmed it had entered into a deal with CIMIC Group member Sedgeman following a competitive tender process for the ECI phase that is expected to be completed in the first half of this year. The project’s total resource across both its Donald and Jackson deposits currently sits at a whopping 2.63 billion tonnes grading 4.4 per cent heavy minerals (HM).
Astron Corporation is hunting critical minerals as part of the global green energy revolution.
Astron says the ECI is the equivalent of the operation’s front-end engineering design and will incorporate value and layout optimisation and equipment selection and finalisation. It will include all engineering work to take the project from a feasibility study to a targeted financial investment decision.
The ECI will be followed by detailed design and procurement of long lead-time equipment for the processing plant, in addition to identifying opportunities to shorten the project delivery time.
“The commencement of Early Contractor Involvement works represents a pivotal step in the project’s advancement.”
Astron Corporation managing director Tiger Brown
The Donald project sits in Victoria’s Murray-Darling Basin, about 250km north-west of Melbourne, and is expected to deliver $3.87 billion in free cash during its first-phase mine life of 41.5 years.
Management says Sedgman is considered a leading Australian engineering and construction firm with extensive experience in mineral processing solutions across the project lifecycle. Its involvement is expected to deliver significant value through its expertise in large mineral processing projects.
Astron Corporation managing director Tiger Brown said: “The commencement of Early Contractor Involvement works represents a pivotal step in the project’s advancement. By leveraging the expertise of our partners and adopting a collaborative approach, we are positioning ourselves for long-term success and value creation.”
The Donald deposit is the company’s more advanced operation and already boasts an 825-million-tonne resource going 4.5 per cent HM with 17.8 per cent zircon, 7.2 per cent rutile, 28.4 per cent ilmenite, 21.1 per cent leucoxene and 1.7 per cent monazite.
The Jackson deposit is immediately to the south of the Donald deposit and is not yet contemplated within the current mine plan. Jackson boasts an 823-million-tonne resource at 4.8 per cent HM.
The company signed a memorandum of understanding with Energy Fuels late last year that will see the latter pick up 49 per cent of the Donald project to form a joint venture (JV) and the rights to the rare earths offtake from it. Astron will retain the right to pick up the HM concentrate offtake, in addition to holding 51 per cent of the project.
Under the terms of the deal, Energy Fuels will put up $180 million in cash and about $26 million worth of its shares. As part of initial mining phase, the proposed JV will mine 7.5 million tonnes of ore per year to produce about 200,000 to 250,000 tonnes per year of HM concentrate and about 7000 to 8000 tonnes per year of rare earths concentrate for 41.5 years.
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