Welcome spark for Qld critical minerals push

EQ Resources is among the Queensland critical minerals players looking to tap a new federal loan facility as it prepares to release its bankable feasibility study into a planned expansion at its Mount Carbine tungsten site. The Federal Government has announced a $2 billion Critical Minerals Facility, which it says will help make Australia a world-leader in the mining and downstream processing of in-demand resources. EQ Resources chief executive officer Kevin MacNeill said the company saw Mount Carbine as an ideal test project for the facility to kick-start. "This is a simple, easy project with a brownfield site. We're up and operating. So we'll certainly be approaching them to see how we can access some of that funding. No question," he said. EQ is already producing tungsten by reprocessing stockpiled material at the historical mine site in Far North Queensland, as well as running a quarry business there. The proposed expansion would see it restart open-pit mining at Mount Carbine as well as stepping up operations to extract tungsten from the site’s 12M-tonne low-grade ore stockpile. Related: $2b fund to turbocharge critical minerals sector While the company already has wheels in motion for a Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) loan application, Mr MacNeill said the new Critical Minerals Facility was targeting exactly what EQ Resources was doing. He believed the new loan facility would help send a strong signal to to financiers in support of critical minerals project by taking much of the risk off the table. QEC chair Kim Wainwright. Queensland Exploration Council (QEC) chair Kim Wainwright said Queensland had a range of critical mineral exploration projects underway that would support the world’s transition to lower emission energy. “Queensland is highly prospective for many of the minerals used to manufacture everyday items such as smart phones, and renewable energy products like wind turbines, electric cars, solar panels and batteries,” Ms Wainwright said. “For example, we have some critical minerals projects underway involving commodities such as vanadium, tungsten and rare earths as well as the more traditional minerals required like copper, gold and zinc, but the sector will need to expand further to realise its full potential.” Ms Wainwright said the Queensland Government’s recent approval of Multicom Resources’ Saint Elmo vanadium mine near Julia Creek was a sign of more to come, with vanadium an in-demand component used to strengthen steel alloys and vanadium batteries, which complement lithium battery options. “Queensland is in prime position to provide the rare earths and other critical minerals that are essential to the supply chains of the new economy minerals,” she said.

Welcome spark for Qld critical minerals push

Industry Queensland

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