Alkane Resources Ltd (AX:ALK)’s wholly owned subsidiary, Australian Zirconia, has been granted an Environmental Protection Licence (EPL). This finalises the approval process for the Dubbo Zirconia Project (DZP) and significantly de-risks the path towards financing. With all the development permits now in place, Alkane can provide assurance to its finance team that no fundamental obstacle, whether technical, commodity price (the DZP is robustly profitable at current commodity prices), governmental or otherwise, can hinder the project’s development post financing being secured.
The EPL provides key guidance on the DZP’s emission limits to air, land and water and details environmental monitoring requirements. The EPL follows planning approval (announced 2 June 2015), approval of the mining lease (announced 21 December 2015) and approval for the actual construction period of the project.
The approval the EPL means that Alkane can finalise key off-take agreements and progress financing of the project. Such off-take agreements centre on the future sale of the DZP’s diverse range of specialty metals including zirconia based products, niobium, hafnium and rare earths. We expect Alkane to announce finalised off-takes and provide guidance on financing over the remainder of CY16.
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