The Dubbo Project: Federal Government grant $5m funding to Central West rare earths mine

The government will back a rare earths mine in the state’s central west, expected to create more than 1000 jobs. Here’s the latest.

The federal government will back a rare earths mine in the state’s central west with a multimillion-dollar grant to further support the regional economy.

Minister for Resources Madeline King announced a $5 million grant towards The Dubbo Project, under the international partnerships and critical minerals fund in addition to other grants previously received to develop the mine.
The Dubbo Project, owned by Australian Strategic Materials, will be located in Toongi, about 25km south of Dubbo, and will deposit light and heavy rare earths, zirconium, niobium and hafnium.

The grant would be used to fund up to 50 per cent of a study to find more efficient ways of refining rare earths at its mine and processing plant.

“Dubbo will be at the heart of NSW critical minerals and rare earths industry,” Ms King said.

“It is a globally important deposit and a globally important processing facility that Australian Strategic Materials are creating right here in Dubbo. A thousand jobs during construction, and hundreds of jobs in an ongoing mining and processing project.

The Australian Government has announced a $5 million grant to The Dubbo Project. Photo: Generic

“It’s a real game changer for the region.”

Ms King said the latest grant would fund a study to improve the refining and processing of rare earth metals in Dubbo, how crucial they would be and the influence of renewable energy.

The Dubbo Project will produce 275 ongoing full-time jobs, which Ms King describes as a “backbone” to the Australian economy in regions across the nation.

The company also received financial support from USA and Export France Australia for construction and debt funding.

Member for Parkes Mark Coulton says the multi-generational project would bring “significant benefits” to the area, along with the global community.

“It’s a slow process, but because of the magnitude of this project,” Mr Coulton said.

“The importance of this project and I guess the difficulty of bringing so many players together, whether it’s customers, the finances, the different countries involved, to get to this point where we’re on the verge of starting to see major changes happening out on that mine site.

“It’s really important for Minister King to be out there.”