PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Silica sand explorer Perpetual Resources has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China’s Guangdong Qinyin New Material Technology Co over the purchase of some 400 000 t/y of high grade silica sand from the Beharra project, in Western Australia.
Under the MoU the parties would negotiate the terms for a legally binding offtake agreement by no later than the end of June 2022.
“We are extremely pleased to be entering into discussions with Qinyin regarding potential offtake for Beharra, particularly as Qinyin represents such a well-positioned and active participant in the silica sand and glass raw material input market in China,” said Perpetual executive chairperson Julian Babarczy.
“Demand for the photovoltaic/photoelectric glass industry in China is anticipated to grow significantly in coming years and our recent metallurgical test results show strong potential for Beharra to be a key participant in this exciting market.”
A prefeasibility study (PFS) into the Beharra silica sands project has estimated that the project would require a capital investment of A$77-million to produce some 48-million tonnes over a mine life of 32 years.
Based on a two-million-tonne-a-year operation, producing 1.5-million tonnes a year of silica sands, the PFS estimated that Beharra would have a post-tax net present value of A$236-million and an internal rate of return of 77%, with a pay-back period of two years.