Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) has approved a joint venture (JV) between ASX-listed Metallica Minerals and China’s Ozore Resources.
Under the JV, Ozore would provide about A$7.5-million in funding to develop Metallica’s Urquhart Point heavy mineral sands (HMS) project, in Cape York, and to explore for other HMS and bauxite deposits on the nearby tenement areas, as well as north of Weipa.
Some 240 000 t/y of ore would be mined from a shallow openpit operation at Urquhart Point, to produce about 87 000 t/y of concentrate over a five-year mine life. The project currently has a proven and probable reserve of 1.18-million tonnes, at 9.5% heavy minerals.
Metallica said on Wednesday that the FIRB approval was the final condition precedent to the JV agreement.
Once the final payment has been received, expected by September 11, the JV would initiate site preparation work at the Urquhart Point HMS project, followed by exploration programmes for HMS and bauxite, in late September.
Production for Urquhart Point has been slated to start in the next 12 to 18 months.