Atlantic restarts ‘cursed’ project

Indonesian billionaire Anthony Salim is set to try and make some of his money back at the Windimurra vanadium project in WA.

The Windimurra vanadium mine in WA

Indonesian billionaire Anthony Salim is set to have a run at finally getting some of his money back at the Windimurra vanadium project in WA, with work set to begin on rebuilding the thrice-cursed mine later this year.

One-time market darling Atlantic, now a private company controlled by Mr Salim’s Droxford International, is closing on the start of construction at Windimurra within months, according to works approval documents filed with the WA government this month.

It will spend about $127 million rebuilding the processing plant at Windimurra, a rich vanadium deposit that has shredded reputations and burned more than $750m in investor cash over the troubled decades of its history.

Its last stint in production ended in 2014, when Windimurra’s processing plant was destroyed by fire.

According to the approval documents, the latest version will process up to 4.5 million tonnes a year of ore to produce 10.5 million tonnes of vanadium pentoxide flake.

Work will begin on construction of a new plant later this year, and first shipments are expected late next year.

Vanadium is a key ingredient used to harden steel, and Atlantic launched plans to refurbish the operation last year as the price of the commodity surged on the back of a Chinese government mandate that increased its use in construction steel, and Chinese mines were shuttered due to environmental restrictions.

The price spike was also ­fuelled by the emergence of vanadium flow batteries as a technology with significant potential as a means of storing renewable energy, and increasing demand from the aerospace industry.

Although prices have since tumbled from last year’s highs of more than $US33 a pound, they still sit above the $US8 a pound Atlantic used in its 2018 feasibility studies.