Mineral leases granted for Avenira Phosphate Project
The Northern Territory Government has awarded 2 mineral leases to Perth-based Avenira Ltd, giving exclusive rights to the Wonarah phosphate deposit in the Barkly region.
The issue of the mineral leases will enable Avenira to extract a bulk sample for testing, and if successful, commence a Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) operation.
Avenira secured environmental approvals prior to these licences being awarded.
A significant economic and strategic opportunity for the Northern Territory, as the projected demand for phosphate is set to grow as a significant component in lithium ferro phosphate (LFP) batteries, used in electric vehicles and stationary storage.
A future stage of the project will include a LFP battery cathode manufacturing facility, which will source phosphate from the Wonarah deposit for an integrated operation.
Avenira’s chairman and chief executive officer, Brett Clark said, “We are pleased to receive the mineral leases supporting the company’s proposed mining activities at Wonarah. We can now proceed towards commencement of test pit activities as an interim stage to DSO production.
“Wonarah test pit will set up the logistic supply chains that will enable future DSO production and underpin the important role that Wonarah can play in the development of a downstream LFP battery cathode manufacturing facility in the Northern Territory. We would like to acknowledge the Northern Territory Government for their support.”
It’s estimated the LFP plant will initially create 100 jobs, growing up to 1,000 jobs and generating more than US$4 billion in revenue annually once scaled to full production.
This week also sees the Darwin Critical Minerals Dialogue taking place which will bring together key leaders and stakeholders from Australia, Japan and the United States to discuss critical mineral production and supply-chain security.