Corporate
About Windimurra
The Windimurra project is located 600km north-east of Perth, Western Australia (see Figure 1). The nearest town is Mt Magnet and the tenements are located on the Windimurra Pastoral Station. It is owned 90% by Windimurra Vanadium Limited and 10% by Noble Group via the operating company, MidWest Vanadium Pty Ltd. The project has moved from detailed design to the construction phase.
Windimurra has entered into a life of mine take or pay sales and marketing agreement for 100% of Windimurra's production with Noble Group (SGX: NOBL). Noble's 10% shareholding in the Windimurra mine, which serves to further align the parties interests. Under the terms of the agreement, Noble will purchase the vanadium production, develop sales to end user companies and co-ordinate the logistics for the delivery of the product to customers. Importantly, Noble will assume all credit risk for the sales to customers. The agreement also includes a floor price guarantee for the first seven years of the project of the greater or market price or the cost of production.
Noble has commenced market development for the sales of the remainder of production.
Noble is headquartered in Hong Kong and operates in more than 40 countries via a network of more than 80 offices. The group serves more than 4,000 customers and has become a significant player in a number of key commodity markets around the world. For more information, visit www.thisisnoble.com
Figure 1: Location map of Windimurra Vanadium mine
Project Strengths
The Windimurra mine is based on one of the world’s largest known vanadium deposits. The site is close to existing key infrastructure and all material statutory and environmental approvals are in place. Windimurra will incorporate world class processing facilities and will be a key supplier into the growing vanadium market. Demand for vanadium is forecast to grow through to 2015 at a compound annual rate of 7.8%.
History
Discovered in the 1960s, the Company commissioned a bankable feasibility study in 1988, which lead to the Company and Xstrata AG entering into a joint venture agreement to develop the mine.
A vanadium processing plant, mine and infrastructure were constructed at a cost of $115 million in 1998-1999. The project was serviced by the new Midwest gas pipeline and an on-site power station, representing a further $70 million investment.
Operations commenced in November 1999 and Xstrata operated the mine until April 2003 when it was placed on care-and-maintenance. The mine was closed in 2004 and Windimurra regained ownership of the mine in 2005.
Re-Developing the Mine
Windimurra is in the process of re-developing the mine. Once operational, the mine will produce approximately 5,700 tonnes of vanadium as ferrovanadium per annum.