The Australian Government has granted environmental approval to TNG Limited’s wholly-owned Mount Peake Vanadium-Titanium Iron Project in the Northern Territory, marking another milestone towards the beginning of mine development.
This approval follows the Northern Territory Environmental Protection Authority (NTEPA) which was granted in January of this year, and it also marks the completion of the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process.
“This Federal environmental approval is a huge milestone for all our key stakeholders, but particularly for our development and permitting team and our shareholders, who have waited patiently for this news. We are absolutely delighted that the long-running Environmental Impact Assessment process for the Mount Peake mine and infrastructure component is now completed,” TNG’s Managing Director Paul Barton said.
WIth the final environmental approval granted, TNG is ready to proceed to the next stage of mining approval under the Mining Management Act. TNG will also start finalising its Mine Management Plan (MMP) - which will include the recommendations made by the NTEPA - as well as financing for the project and a Mining Agreement with the Traditional Land Owners.
TNG is currently working towards the approval of a Mining Lease by the NT Government - with the EIA process already completed and the MMP being finalised.
“We will now proceed to seek to finalise the Mining Agreement with the Central Land Council as soon as possible and secure our Mining Lease, which in turn clears the way for site-based construction activities to commence. In parallel, we have a number of financing and off-take discussions progressing,” Mr Burton said.
The Mount Peake project is located approximately 230 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs and the development is expected to be valued at $853 million. The project will include an open pit mine and a 3Mtpa concentrator on-site - with a possible future expansion to 6Mtpa - which will be connected by rail to a TIVAN hydrometallurgical metals refinery in Darwin.
“There has been exceptional demand for these strategic metals over the last 12 months, so the future looks bright for Mount Peake and Territorians - this project will create jobs not only on site, but also at a planned metals refinery TNG wants to open in Darwin,” Minister for Primary Industry and Resources Ken Vowles said.
In addition, TNG has also successfully signed three life-of-mine off-take agreements for the vanadium, titanium oxide and iron products produced from the mine. The mine is projects to produce approximately 243,000 tonnes of high-purity vanadium pentoxide, 3.5 million tonnes of titanium pigment and 10.6 million tonnes of iron oxide over a 17-year mine life.
“Against a backdrop of an outstanding performance by all of our key metals over the past 12 months - particularly vanadium and titanium - we believe that the prospects are strong for Mount Peake. TNG is working hard to unlock the value of this world-class strategic metals resource and to position it as a long-life supplier of high-value battery and steel raw materials for many decades to come,” Mr Burton said.
Earlier this year, TNG has awarded the McMahon Services - Clough joint Venture the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the mine. TNG has also appointed Como Engineers as the project managers for the development.
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Source: Northern Territory Government Newsroom, Mining Weekly, TNG Limited