A new critical minerals jurisdiction

Victoria is staking its claim as an emerging critical minerals jurisdiction, approving two rare earths and mineral sands projects.

This includes VHM’s Goschen project, which had its environment effects statement (EES) endorsed by the Victorian Government this week, following a rigorous environmental and social assessment process.

VHM will now need its Goschen mining licence to be approved by Resources Victoria. In parallel, the company will advance financing discussions as it looks to make a final investment decision on the Goschen project in the near future.

VHM is targeting first production at Goschen in 2026.

“VHM’s achievement in obtaining ministerial endorsement of Goschen’s EES is a major step forward in the initiation of a new rare earth and minerals sands project in Victoria,” VHM chief executive officer Ron Douglas said.

“This recommendation is the result of extensive technical, environmental, and social studies conducted over several years and follows a rigorous evaluation process. It is a momentous outcome for all parties involved.”

The Goschen project will deliver dual-revenue streams from a mixed zircon-titania heavy mineral concentrate and a rare earth concentrate consisting of neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium, which are key inputs for the clean-energy transition.

“The Goschen project will involve the mining and processing of heavy mineral sands and rare earth minerals, utilising a shallow-pit truck–shovel block-mining design, a conventional gravity separation processing flowsheet, and a staged rehabilitation program,” VHM said.

WIM Resource’s Avonbark mineral sands project also received the greenlight from the Victorian Government, which noted that Goschen and Avonbark are the first Victorian mineral sands projects to be approved since 2008.

Avonbark is expected to produce around 311 million tonnes of materials, primarily made up of zircon, titanium and rare earth by-products.