Name of the Project
Dubbo zirconium/niobium/hafnium and rare earths project.

Location
The project is located 25 km south of Dubbo, in central-western New South Wales, Australia.

Project Owner/s
Australian Strategic Materials (ASM) demerged from Alkane Resources in 2020.

Project Description
The Dubbo project is a large inground polymetallic resource of zirconium, hafnium, niobium, tantalum, yttrium and rare-earth elements. It has an 18.9-million-tonne mineral ore reserve and a 75.18-million-tonne mineral ore resource.

According to ASM, the project will, at full capacity, be capable of processing one-million tonnes a year of crushed ore through sulphuric acid leach and solvent extraction recovery.

Mining will be undertaken through an openpit, then transported to the processing facility.

Sulphuric acid used for leaching will be produced on site using a sulphur-burning acid plant that also generates electricity and steam for the process plant.

A small amount of waste rock will be extracted and transported to a small waste rock emplacement to the south-west of the openpit. The liquid and solid residues from the processing plant will be transported and stored in liquid residue storage facilities, solid residue storage facilities and salt encapsulation cells.

The project currently has a mine life of 20 years.

Potential Job Creation
About 450 jobs are expected to be created during construction and 200 during operations.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
In the base case, the project has an estimated pretax net present value (NPV), at an 8% discount rate, of A$1.24-billion and an estimated internal rate of return (IRR) of 17.5%.

In the staged build, the project has an NPV, at an 8% discount rate, of A$909-million and an IRR of 16.1%.

Capital Expenditure
The project will cost about A$1.3-billion in the base case scenario. In the staged build, Stage 1 is estimated at A$808-million and Stage 2 A$692-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Export Finance Australia (EFA) has conditionally offered financial support to secure A$200-million in debt funding for the Dubbo project.

The EFA will start on a detailed due diligence of the Dubbo project, in line with the agency’s mandate to support Australian projects with targeted debt solutions to supplement private market finance. EFA’s support will be subject to the outcome of the due diligence, as well as several other conditions, including securing offtake commitments for the metal products, the execution of a lump-sum turnkey fixed date contract with an engineering contractor, finalising the project’s funding plan, and the project receiving all necessary approvals.

ASM MD David Woodall has reported that the project is ready for construction, with all major state and federal approvals and licences in place.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Alkane Resources, tel +61 8 9227 5677 or email mail@alkane.com.au