Tag Archives: Western Australia

Milestone Cat 24 Motor Grader set for Rio Tinto’s Pilbara operations

Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining services, Steel and iron ore, , , , , , , , , , ,

Twenty-seven years after introducing the Cat® 24 Motor Grader to the mining market, Caterpillar has celebrated the production of its 1,000th unit.

At a ceremony held on September 22, 2022, Caterpillar executives and motor grader production team members gathered in Decatur, Illinois, to celebrate the production and sale of this milestone machine. The grader, destined for Australia, was sold by Cat dealer, WesTrac Pty Ltd, to Rio Tinto’s Pilbara Operations in Western Australia.

During the event, Caterpillar team members heard from both WesTrac and Rio Tinto Iron Ore representatives, through videotaped comments. The milestone machine includes a special 1,000th unit commemorative plate.

In 1995, Caterpillar introduced the Cat 24 Motor Grader specifically designed to build and maintain haul roads at mining sites with ultra-class haul trucks. Now in its third generation, the Cat 24 offers 399-518 kW of power, weighs 61,950 kg, comes with a 7.3 m moldboard – with an 8.5 m moldboard option – and technology as standard to work wide haul roads efficiently, according to the OEM.

Sam Vedhakumar Manoharan, Caterpillar’s Vice President of Product Management, Earthmoving, said: “The Cat 24 Motor Grader was and continues to be a game changer for maintenance efficiency of the wide haul roads necessary for ultra-class trucks. We thank the many global mining operations and dedicated Cat dealers around the world for their loyalty to the Cat 24 grader.”

Today’s Cat 24 Motor Grader features more than 30% higher power, 13% more weight and a longer rebuild life than previous generations. It will also soon feature a high-performance circle design for further improved reliability.

Stephen Jones, Rio Tinto Iron Ore Managing Director of Planning, Integration and Assets, said: “For years, we have used Cat 24 Motor Graders to maintain our haul roads for our ultra-class trucks. The Cat 24 series offers a great combination of power, weight and blade width to support road maintenance coverage for our large mining fleet. We are honoured to receive the commemorative 1,000th 24 Motor Grader, and this represents the third generation we’ve used across our Pilbara mining operations.”

Woodside Energy and EDL to help power up Thunderbird mineral sands project

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Sheffield Resources says the joint venture that manages the Thunderbird mineral sands project in Western Australia has secured a supply of LNG for at least five years from subsidiaries of Woodside Energy Group Ltd and EDL.

Kimberley Mineral Sands, owned 50:50 by Sheffield Resources and Yansteel, has executed a binding five-year agreement, with the ability for the parties to extend for a further five years, with Woodside Energy (LNG Fuels & Power) Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Woodside Energy Group Ltd (Woodside) and EDLLNG Fuel to Power Pty Ltd (EDL) for the supply and delivery of approximately 650 tj/y of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the project.

LNG will be supplied by the Woodside/EDL joint venture (WEJV) from Woodside’s Pluto LNG Truck Loading Facility, near Karratha in Western Australia, and transported to the KMS LNG storage facility by WEJV. WEJV will own and operate a purpose-built road tanker fleet to safely and reliably deliver the LNG to Thunderbird.

The agreement enables flexible, long-term gas supply to KMS for power generation, Sheffield said, adding that it was subject to a number of customary conditions precedent, including KMS making a final investment decision toward the development of Thunderbird, following the completion of project financing of Thunderbird.

Sheffield Resources Executive Chair, Bruce Griffin, said: “We are extremely pleased KMS have established a strong relationship with Woodside and EDL as they support KMS by delivering a low cost, efficient energy solution for Thunderbird. Thunderbird construction is continuing to advance at a significant pace and remains on track for first production in early 2024.”

A bankable feasibility study released earlier this year outlined a A$484 million ($314 million) Stage 1 project using a Single Mining Unit Plant that underpinned a 10.4 Mt/y mining operation and a processing plant design feed rate of 170 t/h. The Stage 2 project saw a duplication in year five of Stage 1 mining underpinning a 20.8 Mt/y mining operation and an increase in the processing plant feed rate to 290 t/h.

Earlier this month, Pacific Energy signed a 15-year Power Purchase Agreement with KMS, wherby Pacific Energy will design, build, own and operate a 16 MW high efficiency gas power station combined with 2 MW of battery storage and an on-site LNG storage and re-vaporisation facility with 10 days’ storage capacity for the Thunderbird project.

OZ Minerals’ West Musgrave copper-nickel plan receives board approval

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The OZ Minerals Board has greenlit the build of the West Musgrave copper-nickel project in Western Australia, paving the way for the development of a remote asset using dry grinding technology, autonomous haulage and a significant volume of renewable power.

West Musgrave is set to become OZ Minerals’ fourth operating asset when it starts producing concentrate in the second half of 2025, in the process becoming the company’s cleanest and greenest mine with plans to reach net zero Scope 1 emissions by 2038.

The feasibility study the board signed off on details a 13.5 Mt/y operation with average production of circa-28,000 t/y of nickel and circa-35,000 t/y of copper over a 24-year operating life. Coming with a A$1.7 billion ($1.1 billion) direct initial capital expenditure bill, West Musgrave could provide cash flow generation of circa-A$1.9 billion during the first five years of production based on OZ Minerals’ projections.

One of the interesting additions to the process flowsheet – which has been mentioned in previous economic studies – is the use of LOESCHE’s Vertical Roller Mill (VRM) technology.

Two VRMs will operate in parallel after the primary and secondary crushing circuit at West Musgrave, with OZ Minerals noting benefits in reducing power consumption by around 20%, supporting higher flotation recovery and the operational flexibility to be ramped up and down. The latter is particularly important given OZ Minerals plans to make West Musgrave one of the largest fully off-grid, hybrid renewable powered mines in the world with an initial circa-80% renewable penetration rate, powered off wind and solar energy with a battery energy storage system in tow.

Dr Thomas Loesche, Managing Shareholder and owner of LOESCHE, said: “As a mining engineer with a degree in mineral processing, it has always been a vision of mine to develop dry-comminution technologies that enable better sorting efficiencies, reduced power and consumables. We are very pleased to be involved in such an important project. OZ Minerals is breaking new ground and proving that sustainability does not stand in the way of project development, but rather makes such projects possible.”

The application of the VRM technology has been peer reviewed for the project by independent experts and has been de-risked through pilot test work campaigns, OZ Minerals added.

Further upstream of the VRMs, OZ Minerals has stated plans to operate the mining fleet remotely from day one at West Musgrave, with the acquisition of an autonomous haulage system-enabled fleet on a leasing basis in the feasibility study outline.

OZ Minerals did not include details of the size of truck involved in the latest study, but the prefeasibility study originally released in 2020 highlighted the use of up to 25 220-t payload haul trucks.

There is also potential for these haul trucks to be electric in the future, with OZ Minerals saying its pathway is aligned with the potential transition to an electric haulage fleet at the first engine change out.

While OZ Minerals says it has the capacity to fully fund West Musgrave with a new A$1.2 billion syndicated facility supported by key relationship banks awaiting final binding agreements, it said potential strategic partnership in the project via a minority interest was being explored.

The next steps for the project involves award of contracts with major partners – it has already signed up GR Engineering to build the process plant; increasing the capacity of its camp to around 250 beds by early 2023; mobilisation of equipment to commence earthworks; finalise the power purchasing agreement and Living Hub – the latter of which has 350 permanent ensuite rooms; and increasing its owner team resources in line with the plan, including operational-readiness personnel.

BHP looks to halve WA Iron Ore port facility emissions with Alinta Energy pact

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BHP says it expects to halve emissions from the generation of electricity used to power its WA Iron Ore port facilities in Port Hedland by the end of 2024, following the signing of a large-scale renewable Power Purchase Agreement with Alinta Energy.

The halving of reported emissions, based on current forecast demand and compared with financial year 2020 (FY2020) reported emissions, will contribute to BHP’s medium-term target to reduce operational emissions by at least 30% from FY2020 levels by 2030 and the company’s long-term goal of achieving net zero operational emissions by 2050.

This agreement between BHP and Alinta will see the construction and connection of a 45 MW solar farm and 35 MW battery energy storage system into Alinta Energy’s existing Port Hedland power station, approximately 14 km from BHP’s port facilities, BHP says.

The construction of the solar farm, subject to final regulatory approvals, is expected to begin in December 2022 and create 200 jobs.

Once completed, it is expected that 100% of the forecasted average daytime energy requirements for BHP’s port facilities will be powered by solar generation, with the remaining power requirements to be met through the integrated battery energy storage system and market access to Alinta Energy’s existing gas fuelled power station facilities.

BHP is the foundation customer of Alinta’s solar battery hybrid project, which is expected to be the first large-scale renewable facility at Port Hedland and will support the expansion of the renewable energy industry in Western Australia.

In addition, BHP and Alinta Energy have entered into a memorandum of understanding in relation to the development of the Shay Gap Wind Farm. The Shay Gap Wind Farm is currently planned to be 45 MW, with a potential first-generation date of 2027.

The PPA is the latest milestone in BHP progressing its plan to reduce operational emissions in line with BHP’s climate targets and goals.

In recent years, it has signed power purchase agreements to provide renewable energy to BHP’s Nickel West operations in Western Australia, Olympic Dam operations in South Australia, BMA operations in Queensland and the Escondida copper mine in Chile.

BHP’s WA Iron Ore Asset President, Brandon Craig, said: “The world needs WA’s high quality iron ore to support economic development and decarbonisation, and we are committed to supplying iron ore more sustainably while investing in WA and creating local jobs. We are delighted to expand our partnership with Alinta Energy as we seek to lower emissions from our WA iron ore business.”

Alinta Energy MD and CEO, Jeff Dimery, said that BHP was once again demonstrating strong leadership in the transition to net zero.

“This is exactly the kind of leadership, progress and smart use of renewables and storage that we need from companies like BHP to show the way forward for Australia,” he said. “We’re excited to get the project underway and thank BHP for their partnership and vision.”

Caravel Minerals takes HPGR use forward to DFS

Base metals, Comminution of minerals, Environmental, Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining equipment, Mining services, Power supply for mines, Sustainable mining, , , , , ,

Caravel Minerals has issued a prefeasibility study update on its namesake project in Western Australia, which, among other things, outlines opportunities to incorporate high pressure grinding rolls (HPGRs) and coarse particle flotation (CPF).

The company only issued the original prefeasibility study in July of this year. This outlined a dual train plant and infrastructure build costing some A$1.2 billion ($806 million), with parallel development of two 13.9 Mt/y capacity trains for a total throughput capacity of 27.8 Mt/y.

Over an initial 28-year mine life, annual production was expected to come in around 62,000 t of copper in concentrate in this study.

The company said at this point that optimisation studies by Ausenco were already in progress for a single train circa-27 Mt/y design, with the pending results expected to show substantial reductions in capital expenditure and operating costs.

That study has now come out, with the company saying the single train design and the adoption of HGPR and CPF are forecast to reduce processing cash unit costs by up to A$1.23/t of ore and reduce capital costs by around A$100 million.

What’s more, the company is also anticipating reductions in both power demand and water consumption with the use of these new technologies.

After seeing such results, Caravel says it will take forward HPGR use over SAG mills in its definitive feasibility study.

It also said the inclusion of CPF in the process flowsheet had the potential to reduce capital and operating costs when compared with the original prefeasibility study flowsheet.

The original Caravel PFS mentioned the potential use of diesel-electric autonomous haulage trucks with electric trolley assist and electric power for drills and face shovels. Mining operation opportunities also included the use of shovel-grade sensors, with the company saying XRF-based bucket sampling was under consideration.

RUC Cementation Mining to carry out raiseboring at Bellevue gold project

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RUC Cementation Mining has been awarded a raisebore contract at the Bellevue gold project, 40 km northwest of Leinster in Western Australia.

The project, which is valued at A$15.8 million ($10.6 million) over 28 months, provides for RUC’s Raiseboring division to establish vent rises, return air rises and underground escapeways at the underground mine.

RUC, a subsidiary of the Murray and Roberts Group, also completed several raisebores at the Bellevue gold project during the previous operations, project owner Bellevue Gold said in a separate announcement earlier this week.

RUC calls itself the industry leader for raiseboring, having proprietary techniques and equipment, cost saving initiatives and a localised offsite support centre based in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. It says it is also focused on delivering services with good environmental, social and governance practices, which align with Bellevue’s strong commitments to be Australia’s first carbon-neutral gold producer.

Bellevue is forecasting production of 200,000 oz/y during years one to five at an all-in sustaining cost of A$922/oz ($618/oz) at its operation.

Rio Tinto and Baowu to invest $2 billion in Western Range iron ore development

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Rio Tinto and China Baowu Steel Group Co. Ltd have agreed to enter into a joint venture with respect to the Western Range iron ore project in the Pilbara, Western Australia, investing $2 billion to develop the mine.

Western Range’s annual production capacity of 25 Mt of iron ore will help sustain production of the Pilbara Blend from Rio Tinto’s existing Paraburdoo mining hub. The project includes construction of a primary crusher and an 18 km conveyor system linking it to the existing Paraburdoo processing plant.

Construction is expected to begin in early 2023 with first production anticipated in 2025. The construction phase will support approximately 1,600 jobs with the mine requiring about 800 ongoing operational roles, which are expected to be filled by existing workers transitioning from other sites in the Paraburdoo mining hub.

Rio Tinto’s share of the capital costs are already included in the group’s capital expenditure guidance of around $9-10 billion for each of 2023 and 2024. Both parties will pay their portion of capital costs for the development of the mine, and mine operating costs, plus a nominal ongoing resource contribution fee calculated by reference to Western Range production volumes. There is no upfront consideration being paid by either party.

Rio Tinto and Baowu, which own 54% and 46%, respectively, of the joint venture, have also agreed to enter into an iron ore sales agreement at market prices covering a total of up to 126.5 Mt of iron ore over approximately 13 years. This volume represents Baowu’s 46% interest in the anticipated 275 Mt of production from Western Range through the joint venture.

Rio Tinto has a long history of successfully partnering and investing with customers to develop new mines in the Pilbara. Rio Tinto and Baowu’s partnership in the Pilbara dates back to the 2002 Bao-HI joint venture to develop the Eastern Range deposits in the Hamersley Ranges (Eastern Range) and Western Range, subject to a production cap of 200 Mt. It is now expected the production cap will be sourced entirely from Eastern Range, and this transaction will continue Rio Tinto’s relationship with Baowu through development of Western Range.

Rio Tinto Iron Ore Chief Executive, Simon Trott, said: “This is a very significant milestone for both Rio Tinto and Baowu, our largest customer globally. We have enjoyed a strong working relationship with Baowu for more than four decades, shipping more than 200 Mt of iron ore under our original joint venture, and we are looking forward to extending our partnership at Western Range.

“The development of Western Range represents the commencement of the next significant phase of investment in our iron ore business, helping underpin future production of the Pilbara Blend, the market benchmark.

“At the same time, Rio Tinto and Baowu continue to work together on low-carbon steelmaking research, exploring new methods to reduce carbon emissions and improve environmental performance across the steel value chain.”

Baowu Resources Chairman, Shi Bing, said: “The signing of the joint venture agreement for the Western Range project is a significant event in the history of cooperation between Baowu and Rio Tinto. We fully appreciate the persistent efforts of both teams in accomplishing the important achievement. The Bao-HI joint venture has been successfully operating for more than 20 years, leading us to a win-win result, and reaping friendship and trust.

“We hope that the two parties will deepen the mutually beneficial and win-win partnership, continue to carry forward the spirit of sincere cooperation and further expand cooperation in more fields and aspects on the basis of working together to operate the project well.”

Rio Tinto has worked closely with the Traditional Owners on whose country Western Range is situated, the Yinhawangka People, to co-design a Social and Cultural Heritage Management Plan for the project, designed to protect signiticant cultural and heritage values in the area.

The plan, which was agreed with Yinhawangka Aboriginal Corporation and announced earlier this year, outlines protocols for joint decision-making on environmental matters and mine planning.

Rio Tinto’s Paraburdoo hub is comprised of three operating mines, Paraburdoo, Channar and Eastern Range. Western Range contains two deposits, 36W–50W and 55W–66W, which are located within the Hamersley Basin of Western Australia. The deposits’ mineralisation is primarily hosted by the Brockman Iron Formation with additional detrital mineralisation present. The 36W–50W and 55W-66W deposits contain a measured resource of 22 Mt at 59.1% Fe, indicated resource of 102 Mt at 61.5% Fe and an inferred resource of 108 Mt at 61.4% Fe. The 36W–50W deposit contains a proven reserve of 109 Mt at 62.1% Fe and a probable reserve of 56 Mt at 61.7% Fe.

Zenith Energy, Liontown go big with proposed hybrid power plan at Kathleen Valley lithium project

Energy minerals, Mineral project development, Mining services, Power supply for mines, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Zenith Energy and Liontown Resources have partnered on what they say is Australia’s largest off-grid renewable energy hybrid power station project.

The letter of award between the two companies covers a potential contract to build, own, and operate the hybrid power station in Australia at Liontown’s Kathleen Valley Project in Western Australia.

The award will see Zenith Energy construct a 95 MW hybrid power station at Kathleen Valley in the Goldfields-Esperance region, which includes 30 MW of wind capacity, 16 MWp fixed axis solar PV array and a 17 MW/19 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS).

Kathleen Valley is one of the world’s largest and highest-grade hard-rock lithium deposits and, with an initial 2.5 Mt/y production capacity, is expected to supply circa-500,000 t/y of 6% lithium oxide concentrate, according to the company. With first production expected in June quarter of 2024, the deposit will also produce tantalum pentoxide.

Zenith Managing Director, Hamish Moffat, says the partnership will allow Zenith Energy to demonstrate its innovation, flexibility and expertise to deliver low-carbon emitting hybrid power solutions.

“Zenith Energy is proud to continue to play a lead role in the energy transition, and to provide like-minded partners with a glide path to net zero,” he said. “The project also further demonstrates Zenith Energy’s continued commitment to increasing the proportion of renewable generation in our portfolio.”

Artist impressions of what the Kathleen Valley site will look like (and above)

Moffat says the thermal components of the power station are designed to operate in ‘engine off’ mode at various times, delivering 100% renewable energy generation to Kathleen Valley.

“It’s an exciting opportunity to showcase our expertise, and the ability of renewables to deliver reliable, continuous supply, to power an entire mining operation,” he said. “It will once again raise the industry benchmark in renewable energy integration and demonstrates our commitment to power decarbonisation.”

Other unique aspects of the agreement include:

  • Largest off-grid hybrid power station in Australia: The hybrid power station is currently expected to have the largest off-grid renewable capacity of any mining project in the country, with 46 MW and 17 MW BESS; and
  • Renewable incentives: A combination of incentives to produce renewable power over thermal power together with a renewable energy guarantee will allow Liontown to meet and exceed its renewable energy factor target of 60% at startup and beyond.

Liontown Managing Director and CEO, Tony Ottaviano, says Liontown is delighted to partner with such an experienced and highly competent power producer.

“We believe Zenith Energy is an ideal partner to delivery an industry leading hybrid power station to meet Liontown’s energy needs and requirements for a high-capacity renewable solution,” Ottaviano said. “The hybrid power station proposed will enable Liontown to exceed our target of achieving at least 60% renewable energy at project start-up and beyond.”

Moffat says Zenith Energy is engaged with Traditional Owners, recently announcing a collaboration with Tjiwarl Contracting Services to work together to deliver low carbon emission power solutions for miners and communities on Tjiwarl native title determined lands.

Zenith Energy and Liontown have agreed key commercial terms and are working to finalise arrangements under a binding long term build, own and operate power purchase agreement.

BHP reduces vehicle ‘events’, hazards at Yandi iron ore mine with the help of MSD

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A BHP-developed system is harnessing data from a range of existing safety systems to improve safety in light vehicles (LV) and surface mobile equipment (SME) at its Western Australia Iron Ore (WAIO) mine sites, the miner says.

The Magnet Safety Dashboard (MSD) uses existing operator and equipment monitoring systems to quickly identify potential behaviours or job factors that might increase the likelihood of safety events occurring (‘at risk’ scenarios).

BHP explains: “Operations have historically used different hardware and software systems in isolation. MSD was developed to address integration potential between existing systems providing population-sized data sets on driver/operator behaviour.”

Events and hazards associated with LVs and SME can occur frequently at BHP, so the ability to quickly understand and influence human and job factors, which could contribute to safe outcomes, supports leaders to manage risk more holistically.

MSD harnesses a range of data from collision avoidance, distraction and alertness monitoring and fleet management systems, including location, speed, acceleration, braking and cornering. All selected information is monitored and assessed from a central location, which allows immediate access for relevant employees and medium-to long-term trend analysis, the company claims.

Over 800,000 metrics from more than 20,000 devices, using 300 instances of 60-plus data points, are collected.

Leaders are alerted if hardware, software and network controls are not operating as expected, while team members are alerted if acute intervention is required (where it is possible to achieve).

The system has also created efficient ways to record and display recommended response actions where chronic patterns are present, according to the company.

This accurate and timely notification of driver behaviour events, trends and hot spots requiring improvement has increased awareness and, in the Yandi iron ore mine site, resulted in reductions to the frequency of fatigue, distraction, error and non-compliance events, BHP says.

The Magnet Safety Dashboard program at Yandi Mine Site’s has contributed to a 58% reduction in overall reported vehicle events (December 2020 to April 2021) and a 70% reduction in reported speeding events (October 2020 to April 2021).

Following the program’s positive results and learning at the Yandi mine site, an MSD pilot will be implemented across all WAIO mine sites, BHP says.

Green Gold to test cyanide reduction tech on Poseidon’s Windarra gold tailings project

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Poseidon Nickel says it has signed a binding heads of agreement with Green Gold Projects Pte Ltd (GGP) for the processing of the Windarra Gold Tailings Project in Western Australia.

The agreement could see Green Gold deploy its patented technology at the project, which includes ReCYN, which, through the use of a resin-bead absorbent, can reduce cyanide consumption by 50%, capturing free cyanide from the plant tailings and recycling it back into the leach circuit while recovering metal complexes and making them available for sale.

In the process, ReCYN detoxifies the tailings stream and guarantees 100%-compliant clean water discharge, according to Green Gold.

Its technology is already being tested at PT Agincourt Resources’ Martabe gold-silver operation in Sumatra, Indonesia, to detoxify tailings and recover cyanide and copper.

The binding agreement outlines the proposed partnership with GGP for the processing of the tailings, with a final agreement subject to GGP being satisfied with the outcome of metallurgical test work and a bankable feasibility study being completed at GGP’s expense.

The Windarra Gold Tailings Project consists of the Windarra and Lancefield (pictured) tailings with combined mineral resources of 5.96 Mt at 0.84 g/t Au and 2.1 g/t Ag, containing 180,000 oz of gold. A definitive feasibility study (DFS) was completed by Poseidon and released in mid-2021, which investigated using two different mining methods on the Windarra tailings, amphibious dredging or hydraulic mining and the construction of a modular 1.5 Mt/y processing plant to recover up to 55,000 oz of gold over a 45-month period.

The economic analysis indicated a project with an net present of circa A$20 million ($13.5 million) and internal rate of return of 45-50% depending on the mining method, assuming a gold price of $1,750/oz and an exchange rate of A$1 to US$0.75.

“While the outcome of the DFS was positive, the company is focused on the restart of the Black Swan project and decided that finding a partner to develop and operate the Windarra Gold Tailings Project was the best outcome for shareholders,” Poseidon said. “This process commenced earlier in the year and significant interest was received from various parties.”

Poseidon Nickel Managing Director and CEO, Peter Harold, said: “This agreement (with GGP) is a significant milestone in the company’s strategy to monetise the Windarra Gold Tailings Project. Green Gold Projects is an experienced developer and operator and is currently active in 30 projects globally.”

Upon achieving the test work and feasibility study milestones, GGP will earn a farm-in interest in the project. In return, Poseidon will receive consideration in the form of cash payments – upfront and upon project financing and a free carried profit interest of 8%. The funding, development and operation of the project will be the responsibility of Green Gold.

“The proposed partnership with Green Gold is an ideal outcome for Poseidon given our focus on the development of our nickel projects,” Harold said.

GGP was selected as the preferred partner given its experience as a developer and operator of similar projects, Poseidon said. Its patented technology has the potential to improve the economics of the project, according to the company.

The binding agreement outlines certain conditions to be met to reach a final agreement to develop the project. These include:

  • Metallurgical test work performed by GGP on the Windarra and Lancefield tailings to determine if its patented technology can improve gold recovery;
  • The rights and obligations of the Lancefield tailings right-to-treat Agreement are assigned to GGP; and
  • GGP receiving Foreign Investment Review Board and any other anticipated approval if required.

Subject to the satisfaction of these pre-conditions, Poseidon will grant GGP the right to farm-in to the project subject to the completion of the following milestones:

  • Milestone 1: GGP making a non-refundable upfront payment of A$250,000 upon satisfying the pre-conditions mentioned above to earn an initial 13.8% interest in the project;
  • Milestone 2: GGP completing a positive bankable feasibility study on the project to earn a further 13.8% interest in the project; and
  • Milestone 3: GGP making a final investment decision, securing funding for the project, and making a non-refundable payment of A$1 million to Poseidon to earn a further 64.4% interest in the project.

Poseidon will then retain an 8% free carried profit interest in the project, which entitles the company to 8% of the profit while not contributing to any capital or any other payments. The binding agreement also specifies that the project must be in production within three years from the date that the last farm-in milestone is satisfied, and that GGP will be solely responsible for meeting any rehabilitation or other environmental liabilities arising from the project.