VHM gains key environmental clearance for Goschen

• VHM crosses critical hurdle at Goschen on gaining EPBC approval 
• The project now holds State and Federal environmental approvals 
• VHM continues to progress financing and offtake agreements

Special Report: VHM has ticked off a major milestone, securing Commonwealth environmental approval for its flagship Goschen rare earths and mineral sands project in northwest Victoria, clearing the way for construction planning and operations. 

With State and Federal environmental approvals now in hand, VHM’s (ASX:VHM) Goschen asset is another step closer to delivering high-grade rare earths and heavy minerals.

The company is pushing ahead on financing and offtake deals to pave the way for a final investment decision (FID). 

Since hitting the boards in January 2023, the company’s been busy ticking off permits, licences and offtake agreements to get its project development ready. 

Goschen has a reserve of 210Mt and a large resource of 892Mt at 3% total heavy minerals, a source of mineral sands, as well as monazite and xenotime hosted rare earths.

Funded to ramp-up and lock in offtake 

An $8.6m capital raise during the June quarter will be used for early engineering and de-risking activities, before heading into development phase  of an initial 1.5Mt per annum operation, once financing and FID is completed.

That will expand to 5Mtpa two years later with pre-production costs for stage one forecast at $160m.

Stage one is expected to produce 4300 tonnes per annum of rare earth mineral concentrate and 69,000tpa of zircon/titania heavy mineral concentrate.

The company has entered into a non-binding letter of interest with Mitsui (a Japanese global trading and investment company) for an initial  three-year period, whereby VHM will supply them with 40% of Goschen’s heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) production from commencement.

Mitsui have also proposed to provide a trade finance facility, subject to due diligence.

The company has also entered into an MoU with Queensland-based Currumbin Minerals for the supply and delivery of zircon-titania heavy mineral concentrate, as part of its strategy to develop a domestic supply chain solution for products produced at the Goschen project.

On the road to FID 

VHM CEO Ron Douglas said securing EPBC approval was a critical step in de-risking the Goschen project and demonstrated the company’s commitment to responsible development.

“With Federal environmental approvals now in place, we are expecting the last of the State and Local Council approvals processes to be concluded in the upcoming months,” he said. 

“VHM will continue to engage with stakeholders, including local communities, regulators and potential partners, as it progresses toward FID and commencement of development in 2026.”

VHM is turning its attention to finalising its work plan, locking in offtake and financing, pushing towards a FID and starting front-end engineering and design studies.

This article was developed in collaboration with VHM Limited, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. 

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.