$798m Vecco project inches closer to development
The proposed $798m Vecco critical minerals project in Queensland is one step closer to development after receiving coordinated project status.
Queensland’s coordinator general for Vecco has given ‘coordinated project’ declaration to the project, paving the way for multiple environmental approvals from the Queensland and Federal governments.
The Vecco project would see an open-cut mine built around 70km north of Julia Creek along with a critical minerals processing plant which would supply minerals for use in the manufacture of rechargeable batteries for grid scale energy.
Queensland coordinator general Gerard Coggan commented on the declaration.
“The declaration fosters a whole-of-government approach to developing critical mineral projects and to support positive outcomes for North West Queensland communities,” he said.
“There is a reason critical minerals are referred to as ‘critical’ and it is because they are of high economic importance to transition to renewable energy.
“The critical minerals proposed for mining in this area would be used for batteries that will provide grid energy storage and other electronic devices.”
The Vecco project involves the development of a greenfield mine and processing plant to extract vanadium, molybdenum and high purity alumina.
These critical minerals are important component in grid scale energy storage, lithium-ion batteries and electronic devices.
The project will extract up to 6.7mtpa of run-of-mine ore to produce up to 8000tpa of vanadium, 4000tpa of high purity alumina and 600tpa of molybdenum over its 17 year mine life.
Vecco plans to transport onsite processed product to its own vanadium electrolyte manufacturing facility in Townsville in advance of the local vanadium battery manufacturing plant being established.
During construction, the project is anticipated to create up to 300 jobs and up to 274 jobs during the mine’s operational phase.
Vecco Group managing director Thomas Northcott says the demand for vanadium flow batteries is rapidly increasing.
“Australia’s demand for medium and deep duration storage by 2045 has been estimated at over 100GWh by the market operator and vanadium flow batteries made right here in Townsville from Queensland’s minerals can help meet this need while creating good jobs in regional areas,” he said.
“We will be able to integrate mining and manufacturing and apply our expertise in critical minerals to the downstream supply chain to assist Queensland to achieve its renewable energy target.”
Pending approvals, construction is expected to begin in 2025 with operations to begin in late 2026.