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Leichhardt boss shares appetite for development

s the former operations manager at process engineer and chemist Jody Cel-
ADampier Salt, Nathan Douglas knows lar and another former Dampier Salt op-
a thing or two about what is required to run erations manager in Billy McKee to finetune
a successful industrial salt “farm” as he the project for final investment decision in
likes to describe it. just under two years from now.
So, when he was presented with the un- Douglas said people would be key to
precedented opportunity to spearhead the Eramurra’s successful project development
development of what could be one of two and eventual operation. The company is
new solar salt operations in the Pilbara, he currently forecasting a construction work-
quickly jumped at the chance. force of around 200, with circa 150 residen-
Douglas was appointed chief executive tial-based operation and maintenance roles
of Leichhardt Industrials Pty Ltd last No- once the solar salt farm is operational.
vember and has wasted no time building “Our vision is to be a highly respected re-
up the expertise within the private company source company within the Pilbara with our
which counts Tracker Global Pty Ltd, Re- ethos as being empowered by people and
source Capital Funds and ConSalt GmbH the community,” he said.
among its majority shareholders. “Having the right people on board early in
Leichhardt is targeting completion of Nathan Douglas the project will really help us set up for the
a BFS on its Eramurra solar salt project, future and part of that is bringing in the right
about 55km south-west of Karratha, mid- positive recommendation from the EPA skillsets to not only make this a successful
next year. A final investment decision is and is now awaiting formal environmental project from an environmental and commu-
currently slated for mid-2023 ahead of the approval for project development. It is also nity point of view, but also from a sustain-
proposed first export in 2027. one of the last key milestones ahead of a able technical and financial point of view,
Douglas said the company’s develop- final investment decision by the board. ensuring it is going to stack up for many,
ment timetable for Eramurra, conveniently Leichhardt previously published a PFS many years to come.
located between Cape Preston to the west on Eramurra in May 2019 based on a 2.2 “There hasn’t been a new solar salt op-
and 40 Mile Beach to the east, was in line mtpa slurry operation. However, after tak- eration in Australia for over 20 years and
with forecasts from industry expert Roskill ing on board some feedback from potential of the existing ones through Port Hedland,
which is anticipating a 20 mtpa shortfall in strategic investors, the company decided to Dampier, Lake Macleod and around the
industrial salt supply by the end of this dec- park some of the unproven aspects in that Onslow area, some of them have been run-
ade. original concept and instead head down the ning since the 1960s. There’s still a lot of
“We feel that being positioned where we more traditional path for a solar salt evapo- work to do, so I’ll continually be building up
are in the Pilbara – the low rainfall, good ration project. our internal team as we get closer to that
humidity and great winds – that we’re po- The upcoming BFS will assume a base FID in June 2023.”
sitioned very nicely to meet that shortfall,” case production scenario of 3.4 mtpa, with Some specialist technical and opera-
Douglas told Paydirt. the potential addition of another 800,000 tional roles will be based out of Leichhardt’s
“It also fits in with our schedule. It’s a long tpa. A mining lease application which en- new Subiaco headquarters rather than on
lead-time to construct one of these pro- capsulates the mining proposal, mine clo- site. The company also hopes to engage as
jects. It’s a little bit different to the metals or sure plan and risk registers is currently with many First Australian and local businesses
other industries where you go out and map, DMIRS. from Karratha as possible during both the
drill and define the reserve or resource. Leichhardt has already recruited the likes construction and operational phases.
You have an accurate plan where you can of in-house GIS specialist John Lang, ex- Douglas also said Leichhardt had no im-
understand the orebody and the perienced project manager Rob Crawford, mediate plans to list on a public
strip ratios and processing can stock exchange anytime soon,
be relatively simple. although the company has not
“We have to basically build completely ruled out such an ex-
the concentrator ponds and the ercise.
crystallisers and produce our “At the moment the board feels
resource. That will take roughly that it’s not beneficial for us,” he
four years to finish building the said. “We are fully funded to
concentrators and the crystallis- complete our bankable feasibility
ers and to have a crop ready for study, but I don’t think it [a public
our first vessel in Q1 2027, pend- listing] is something we would rule
ing all statutory and other approv- out in the future. It just depends
als being in place.” on the timing and the strategic di-
Eramurra is one of two Pilbara- rection from the board.”
based industrial salt plays, along- – Michael Washbourne
side BCI Minerals Ltd’s Mardie Eramurra Solar Salt Project
Road
Highway Mining Lease Application
Mining Lease
project, expected to come under Leichhardt Tenements Tenements (not Leichhardt)
Gas pipeline
Mining Lease (Stage 2)
Creek
Granted Tenements
Granted Tenements Pilbara Port Authority Land
the investor spotlight because of Doc: ESSP-IP-36-M-004_0.2 Eramurra Project Overall Layout.pdf Map: LEI_Scenario532Overview_A1L_JL_20210526.qgz Printed 26-05-2021 Pending Tenements
their advanced nature. Leichhardt is targeting completion of a BFS on its Eramurra solar salt
In early July, BCI received a project in the Pilbara by mid-next year
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