PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Tasmania Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has approved ASX-listed Australian Bauxite’s (ABx's) development of its Bald Hill mine.
In his recommendation this week, EPA director Alex Schaap said the mine could be developed and managed in an environmentally sustainable and acceptable manner. He did, however, impose certain conditions on the project.
ABx on Friday said final regulatory approval from the Northern Midlands council was expected in early December, and contractors had been mobilised to start operations at Bald Hill as soon as this approval was obtained.
Initial production at Bald Hill was planned to be around 500 000 t/y of direct-shipping-ore-quality bauxite. Production would be scaled up over the next two years to about two-million tonnes a year.
The project was expected to require a capital investment of around A$4.5-million.
Meanwhile, ABx on Friday also announced that it had issued some 12.5-million shares at a price of 30c each to sophisticated and professional investors, to raise A$3.75-million.
The shares were issued under the company’s 15% placement capacity and did not require shareholder approval.
The company now had a cash reserve in excess of A$5-million to fund its exploration and development programmes in Queensland and New South Wales, as well as A$8-million in undrawn loan facilities to fund the development and initial operations at Bald Hill.