Export Finance Australia (EFA) and the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC) – two state-owned investors – will loan developers up to A$180 million to support the developing Donald rare earths and heavy mineral sands project in Victoria.
Donald Project Limited – a joint venture between Astron and Energy Fuels – needs to secure A$20 million of commercial loan facilities to access the Government’s funds, Astron told investors on 27 October.
EFA and NRFC plan to maintain their lending facilities for a decade. Their funding is subject to due diligence, final approvals, and project documentation.
“[The Donald Project] will produce an average of 9,000tpa of [rare earth concentrate] and 225,000tpa of [heavy mineral concentrate] over its first 5 years of operations,” Astron said.
Energy Fuels plans to buy Donald’s rare earth concentrate output and use it to produce 1,000tpa of neodymium-praseodymium oxide at a Utah processing plant, the company said. It will also produce terbium and dysprosium oxide using Donald concentrates.
Astron has agreed to buy Donald’s heavy mineral concentrate output to sell to downstream users, the company said.
“The Donald … Project will position Australia as an even more reliable supplier of critical minerals to our international partners and allies,” Resources Minister Madeleine King said.
“Developing new sources of rare earths is vital to diversifying global supply chains and ensuring the materials needed for clean energy, advanced technologies and defence applications are available for decades to come,” King added.
By Avinash Govind