Australian Bauxite Limited (ASX:ABZ) Concludes Memorandum of Understanding with Marubeni Corporation (TYO:8002) for Goulburn-Taralga Bauxite Project Pre-Feasibility Study
Sydney, Oct 6, 2011 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Australian Bauxite Limited (
ASX:ABZ) (ABx) and Marubeni Corporation (TYO:8002) (Marubeni) have concluded a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly conduct a pre-feasibility study in relation to the Goulburn-Taralga bauxite project located in New South Wales, Australia.
A 25 million tonne bauxite resource has been declared at Taralga and Marubeni will contribute 35% toward the Pre-feasibility funding, estimated to be $1.5 million.
ABx will conduct the pre-feasibility study with participation by Marubeni, which will investigate the market for bauxite and other credits produced from the Goulburn-Taralga bauxite project.
At the completion of the pre-feasibility study Marubeni can elect to acquire a 35% joint venture interest in the Goulburn-Taralga bauxite project and to contribute 35% of the bankable feasibility and development costs. Marubeni will help arrange the finance for the first bauxite project.
Ian Levy, ABx CEO welcomed Marubeni's participation; "We welcome the confidence shown in Australian Bauxite by one of the world's leading metals and resources companies. Marubeni has the global trading network and skills to find the ideal customers for our speciality bauxite products. This relationship will decrease market risk and expedite the funding and development of our first bauxite production."
About Marubeni Group
- One of the largest General Trading Companies in Japan by turnover, founded in 1858
- Publicly listed on the Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka Stock exchanges (8002.T), with a market capitalisation of US$ 12.5 Billion at 31 March 2011.
- Global trader of a wide range of commodities, it conducts business investment, development and management on a global basis with 119 offices in 69 countries
- In the field of industrial services, Marubeni combines engineering functions and risk management capabilities in various fields such as Renewable Energy, Power and Water Projects, Oil and Gas, Metals and Mineral Resources, Pulp & Paper, Transportation Infrastructure, and Food materials & products.
- Marubeni is a 22.5% owner of Portland Aluminium Smelter, located in Portland in South West Victoria and also owns 8% interest in Boyne Smelters (Line 3), which is located in Boyne Island in Queensland, Australia's largest aluminium smelter. In addition, Marubeni is also a 6.67% owner of Alouette Aluminium Smelter, located in Canada, North America's largest aluminium smelter.
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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