First Tasmanian Mining Lease Granted
Sydney, Sep 22, 2014 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Australian bauxite explorer, Australian Bauxite Limited (ABx) (
ASX:ABX), has been granted its first mining lease, ML1961 at its Bald Hill Project in Northern Tasmania. Bald Hill is located 60 kms southwest of Launceston.
The Company's CEO, Ian Levy, said granting of the mining lease comes after 5 years of exploration along Australia's eastern seaboard. Tasmania provides an ideal environment to host the Company's first mine - good quality bauxite; near infrastructure connected to export ports; & free of socio-environmental constraints.
"Bald Hill is our first mining lease. We have delineated two more in Northern Tasmania and are actively investigating other prospective bauxite areas.
"Production at Bald Hill is planned to commence at the end of 2014. Discussions are well advanced with local mining and transport contractors, in line with our policy of creating economic opportunities that benefit the local community. Our expectation is at least 30 jobs will be created as a consequence.
"Contracts will be settled following the 28 days public display of the Development Proposal and Environmental Management Plan," said Ian Levy.
Spearheading the development of the Tasmanian projects is Leon Hawker, ABx's Chief Operating Officer, who said:
"This is the first new bauxite mine in Australia for over 35 years and will introduce a new bauxite supply into the seaborne bauxite market.
"We look forward to continuing and further developing the relationships that have been built in Tasmania. I particularly wish to acknowledge the work undertaken and the support of the Mineral Resources Tasmania, a division of the Department of State Growth and the EPA and recognise the strong community support we enjoy.
"ABx can only operate with a strong social licence and however modest our contribution to local jobs, industry and the economy may be, we will make every effort to meet the expectations of our diverse stakeholders."
About ABx Group Limited
ABx Group Limited (ABx) (ASX:ABX) started as a bauxite miner in Tasmania in 2014 & controls the Eastern Australian Bauxite Province. In 2020 to 2023, ABx also discovered Australia’s only true ionic adsorption clay Rare Earth Elements resource at Deep Leads in pine plantations 40km west of Launceston with a JORC-compliant resource of 89 million tonnes from only 29% of the mineralised outline, averaging 844 ppm total rare earth oxides that is the most enriched in the critically important rare earths, Dy and Tb, of any Australian REE deposit.
ABx has also developed a proprietary technology to produce fluorine chemicals from an aluminium smelter waste product and return the fluorine back into the smelters, thus reducing reliance on imported aluminium fluoride.
ABx has committed a large proportion of its expenditure into Research and Development and has found ways to capitalise on the main strengths of its bauxite type which is very clean, free of all deleterious elements and can be separated into different product streams using physical, chemical and geophysical methods. It has produced and marketed specialist bauxite products for the manufacturers of fertiliser, cement with high late strength for major infrastructure such as bridges and is in the advanced stages of approvals for production of metallurgical bauxite from its Binjour Bauxite deposit with JORC-compliant resources of 37 million tonnes of bauxite, in a joint development with a Chinese-focussed Australian trading company Good Importing International.
ABx is also preparing to produce fertiliser grade and cement grade bauxite from its DL130 bauxite quarry in northern Tasmania, 40km west of Launceston. This quarry is sited in the middle of the large Deep Leads REE deposit and may one day be a site for heap leaching of the REE using a low-cost, benign leachate with the same acidity as apple juice or tea.
ABx endorses best practices on agricultural land, strives to leave land and environment better than we find it. We only operate where welcomed.
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