PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The federal government has awarded Major Project status to unlisted VHM’s proposed Goschen zircon and rare earth minerals project, in Victoria.
VHM intends to develop a mine near Swan Hill in Victoria and a rare earth minerals refinery at an established site in regional South Australia.
The project is expected to produce a combination of some 3 000 t/y of refined rare earth oxide products, and around 14 000 t/y of mixed heavy rare earth carbonate concentrate, along with 500 000 t/y of zircon and titanium minerals.
Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Christian Porter said the project was expected to support 500 direct new jobs during construction, and 300 direct ongoing jobs over a minimum period of 20 years.
“Along with the mining of zircon and titanium minerals for export, this project involves mining rare earths and processing them in a purpose-built refinery in Australia, just the sort of value-adding we want to see in this and other areas,” Porter said.
Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia Keith Pitt said the project’s ability to supply high-value separated rare earth products had the potential to underpin the future development of other advanced manufacturing industries in Australia such as transport and defence.
“The rare earths in the Goschen mine include neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium, which can be used in things such as the production of electric vehicles, generators for wind turbines, and even robotics,” Pitt said.