Strategic investment to get ball rolling on bauxite plan
By Industry Queensland
An ABx Group subsidiary developing the Sunrise bauxite project in Queensland has received $2.7 million in Stage 1 funding from Good Importing International (GII).
The project centres on a JORC-compliant resource of 37 million tonnes of gibbsite-type metallurgical bauxite at the Binjour deposit and port operations at Bundaberg.
“We are very pleased to have secured funding to develop the Sunrise bauxite project and officially welcome GII as a strategic partner,” ABx Group managing director and chief executive officer Mark Cooksey said.
“The investment provides the resources, technical skills and commitment needed to advance towards production.
“With strong demand and tight global supply, we are confident this partnership places the project in an excellent position to succeed.”
Related: ABx attracts backing for Sunrise bauxite development
GII now owns 70 per cent of ABx3, the vehicle advancing the Sunrise project.
The Stage 1 funding will be deployed to finalise the project design for an initial extraction of bauxite from the Binjour mine, exported via Bundaberg port.
Key milestones for this stage, expected to take 12-24 months, are:
- Secure regulatory approvals, land access agreements and permits to permit the extraction of at least 800,000 tonnes of direct shipping ore bauxite
- Finalise mine plan
- Finalise port infrastructure design
Stage 2 would see GII invest a further $2.7 million by way of share subscription to increase its ownership of ABx3 to 75 per cent.
The funds from Stage 2 completion are earmarked to cover all land acquisition and lease costs, and security deposits as well as constructing infrastructure at Binjour mine and Bundaberg port.
ABx said the Stage 2 program was expected to take just three months because of the limited mine and infrastructure required.
ABx and GII have jointly developed an updated project concept for Sunrise to tap common-user infrastructure established by Gladstone Ports Corporation at the Bundaberg Port, significantly reducing the time to commence production and capital cost compared to earlier project concepts.
You may also like:
