Altech Chemicals (ASX:ATC) is one step closer to developing its 100% owned Meckering kaolin mine in Western Australia after submitting the mining proposal and mine closure plan.
At Meckering, Altech is planning to mine 140,000 tonnes of kaolin once every three years and ship it to the company’s proposed high purity alumina (HPA) plant in Malaysia.
The company’s Meckering mining lease contains a resource estimation of 12.7 million tonnes at 29.5% alumina.
This represents over 250 years of feedstock supply for the proposed HPA plant.
The proposed mining activity is a simple quarry style operation and importantly, no drill and blast is required, which will making mining costs lower.
Iggy Tan, managing director, commented: “The company is delighted to have rapidly progressed to the next stage of development at Meckering, with the submission of a mining proposal and an associated mine closure plan in preparation for mine development in 2017.”
Altech recently executed a 20-year lease agreement, which includes a 20-year renewal option over the site for the proposed HPA plant in Johor, Malaysia.