Explorer and developer QEM’ (ASX:QEM) said on Monday (December 23) that its Julia Creek vanadium and energy project has received coordinated project status from Queensland’s Office of the Coordinator-General.
According to QEM, the declaration will allow the office to facilitate regulatory approvals.
The company has been working for the last 24 months on environmental baselines needed for Julia Creek’s environmental impact statement (EIS), and will now work on preparing draft terms of reference for the EIS.
“Coordinated Project status is another major milestone for QEM and I welcome the ongoing support from the Queensland Government for new and expanded mining opportunities and high-value industries, particularly in regional Queensland,” said QEM Chairman Tim Wall in the company’s press release.
Jarrod Bleiji, deputy premier and minister for state development, infrastructure and planning, said the declaration “is another example of how Queensland is now open for business under the Crisafulli LNP Government.”
Julia Creek is located in Northwest Queensland, where it covers 250 square kilometres. QEM says the asset is “one of the single largest vanadium deposits in the world today.”
Its resource currently stands at 2,870 million tonnes at 0.31 percent vanadium pentoxide (V2O5), with 461 million tonnes at 0.28 percent V2O5 in the indicated category and 2,406 million tonnes at 0.31 percent V2O5 in the inferred category.
A scoping study released on August 27 revealed that the project aims to produce approximately 10,571 tonnes of 99.95 percent pure V2O5 and 313 million litres of transport fuel per year over a 30 year mine life.
The company has said Julia Creek has the potential to create up to 600 jobs over a two year construction period and approximately 588 permanent jobs during its operational phase.
“The dual-commodity nature of our project seeks to address two urgent needs: long-duration energy storage and domestic fuel security,” commented QEM Managing Director Gavin Loyden on Monday.
“The adoption of vanadium flow batteries is accelerating around the world, and Queensland is uniquely positioned to establish a ‘pit to battery’ manufacturing value chain. QEM will expand its participation in this value chain by processing its vanadium pentoxide into vanadium electrolyte for long-duration batteries,” he furthered.
QEM completed a AU$2.76 million capital raise for the project on October 26, with new shares and options issued to support progress on a prefeasibility study.
Construction is slated for early 2028, while a commissioning and operational phase is set for late 2029.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Gabrielle de la Cruz, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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