The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility has announced contractual close for a $66 million loan to Heritage Minerals for its Mount Morgan gold and copper project.

This loan would help the company build a tailings processing plant and associated infrastructure and allow for rehabilitation of the site, NAIF said.

The recovery of gold and copper from the tailings will help meet increasing demand for the resources required for the clean energy transition, while also improving environmental outcomes for the region and industry.

Mining operations at Mount Morgan closed in 1990 and the abandoned mine has since been managed by the Queensland Government.

Heritage Minerals’ proposed tailings processing plant at Mount Morgan will treat two million tonnes of tailings a year and a new water treatment plant to be built as part of the project is set to improve water quality in the Dee River.

The project is expected to support about 250 new direct construction jobs and up to 150 operational jobs.

It is forecast to bring economic and social benefits for the wider Rockhampton region totalling an estimated $849 million.

The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) loan offer was announced in January this year.

It followed confirmation in late 2022 of grant funding support from the Queensland Government via its Invested in Queensland Program.