The Donald Project area, 300 kms northwest of Melbourne, includes the Donald and Jackson deposits – Tier 1 reserves of rare earths, zircon and titanium minerals.
Together, these deposits promise significant value through low-risk conventional mining and heavy mineral processing operations. Astron will develop them under respective subsidiaries:
- Donald Project Pty Ltd (trading as Donald Mineral Sands (DMS))
- Jackson Mineral Sands Pty Ltd.
DMS manages the Donald deposit licences, which include:
- Mining Licence MIN5532 (2,778.54 ha)
- Retention Licences RL2002 (24,371 ha)
DMS will develop the Donald deposit in two phases. Phase 1 is MIN5532. Phase 2 is the potential future development of RL2002. Progressing RL2002 to development would require conversion to a Mining Licence and the necessary planning, environmental and heritage assessments and approvals.
Rail access has been selected for the output however in the usual victorian style of operation which has seen major projects fail, no rail siding has been permitted for the project at Donald.
The common denominator for failed approaches to sustainable transport has been Freight Victoria who are only interested in seems in placing road trains on Victorian roads.
