Strategic metals company, TNG Limited, has received a healthy $2.18 million refund under the Federal Government’s lucrative Research and Development, or “R&D” tax incentive scheme.
R&D tax offsets are designed to encourage more companies in Australia to engage in research and development and TNG has used it to its full advantage in relation to test work for the commercial extraction of high-purity vanadium, titanium and iron from vanadiferous-titanomagnetite using its patented TIVAN hydrometallurgical process.
TNG Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Paul Burton said: “The receipt of the R&D rebate adds to our existing cash balance, which stood at $20.8 million at the end of the September quarter, providing the company with a solid financial foundation as the various work streams being progressed continue to advance the Mount Peake project towards development.”
Located 235 kilometres north of Alice Springs, TNG’s world-class Mount Peake deposit has a current ore reserve of 41.1 million tonnes grading 0.42% vanadium pentoxide, 7.99% titanium dioxide and 28% iron.
Recently, TNG took a leap towards establishing a pioneering, hydrometallurgical operation in Darwin by submitting the mine management plan for Mount Peake to the Northern Territory Government.
The mine management plan outlines how the company will operate the mine under the NT’s Environmental Protection Authority environmental guidelines and includes the site rehabilitation strategies once mining has concluded – albeit with a minimum expected mine life of some 37 years, that doesn’t look like happening anytime soon.
The company also recently achieved several other approval milestones, including a formal Native Title mining agreement, the granting of Mount Peake’s mineral leases and major project facilitation status from the NT Government.
Its new mine is forecast to churn out approximately 100,000 tonnes per annum of titanium dioxide pigment, 6,000 tpa of vanadium pentoxide and 500,000 tpa of iron oxide over a generational 37-year mine life.
TNG’s plan is to truck the ore concentrate 80km from the mine to a rail siding facility, after which it will be transported nearly 1,200km to Darwin where it will be processed through TNG’s wholly-owned TIVAN proprietary hydrometallurgical circuit.
The process has been designed to extract high-purity vanadium, titanium and iron oxide products from titaniferous magnetite concentrate without the need for expensive, energy-intensive roasting.
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