Strandline Resources Coburn Heavy Mineral Sands Project - IES Summary February 2021
Loan towards to the construction and development of the Coburn Heavy Mineral Sands Project (Investment Decision: June 2020)
Project Overview
NAIF is supporting the critical minerals sector with a loan to Strandline Resources to develop the Coburn mineral sands project. The project is located north of Geraldton, Gascoyne region overlying Nanda and Malgana Shark Bay People country, an area that has extensive history in resource exploration while maintaining rich cultural and ecological landscapes on both land and sea country including the nearby Shark Bay World Heritage Property.
The project is anticipated to be one of the world’s largest and capital efficient mineral sands projects comprising of mining operations, beneficiation, minerals separation processing and associated infrastructure to produce 230,000 tpa of mineral sand products.
Mining will consist of conventional open pit, dry mining in free-dig sand using dozer mining units. The dozer mining units screen and combine the ore with water before it is pumped as a slurry to the ore processing facilities.
Zircon and titanium minerals produced from the development will be marketed to global consumers used in industrial applications such as ceramic tiles, refractory materials, paint, titanium metals and welding rod applications. The initial mine life is forecast at 22.5 years.
Key commitments
- Ongoing engagement with Nanda and Malgana Shark Bay Traditional Owners through a project specific Community Consultation Group, appointment of an Indigenous Liaison Officer, and development and delivery of a Cross Cultural Awareness Education program.
- Preferential procurement process for Nanda and Malgana businesses and contractor reporting requirements across employment, training and procurement spend.
- Delivering aspirational targets for Indigenous employment 3 – 5 % (construction phase) and 4% (year 1 – 3), 7% (year 4 – 7) and 9% (year 7 onwards) for operations site team with a preferential recruitment approach and support for training.
- Annual internal review of the Indigenous Engagement Strategy (IES) with key stakeholders, industry and government bodies and regular reporting and promotion of IES outcomes and initiatives.
Community Engagement
- Strandline’s guiding principles underpin objectives to achieve an equitable and culturally appropriate working environment, increase Indigenous staff, provide career pathways and development for Indigenous people, and build cultural awareness in the workplace.
- Through the project Strandline aims to support Indigenous outcomes with training, employment, and business opportunities and to adopt an affirmative approach to increasing participation. Strandline will use this IES as a framework to engage the Nanda and Malgana Shark Bay Traditional Owners in order to collaboratively develop real and sustainable employment and business development opportunities for their communities.
Supporting stronger communities
- Strandline is committed to Indigenous engagement with strategies to increase and retain Indigenous employment, create development opportunities through accredited training programs such as traineeships and apprenticeships and provide opportunities for Indigenous businesses.
- Indigenous contracting outcomes will be delivered through development of a preferred Indigenous suppliers list and corresponding list of potential procurement packages/business opportunities. Non-financial criteria for selection of contractors will include Indigenous participation requirements with ongoing reporting on performance, being a contractual requirement. Strandline will assist existing contractors and suppliers to meet Indigenous engagement obligations linking them with suitable local candidates for employment and Indigenous businesses.
- Strandline aims to gradually grow its Indigenous workforce over the course of the development, increasing its aspirational employment targets through construction and ramping up into operations.
- Strandline will meet with key stakeholders to conduct an internal annual review of their IES and look for continuous improvement to achieve the best outcomes.
“NAIF’s investment decision is a major endorsement of the project and positions the Company well to advance towards production. As well as providing a substantial share of the project funding, NAIF’s support will help ensure Coburn secures the rest of the necessary financing”
Luke Graham, Strandline Managing Director
