Windimurra vanadium project

The Windimurra Vanadium mine, that is located about 600 kilometres north of Perth in Western Australia, hosts one of the world's largest proven vanadium deposits.

Windimurra Project Started by Xstrata in the 1990's

Global mining company Xstrata, in partnership with Precious Metals Australia, began the task of constructing the world's most advanced vanadium plant, at the Windimurra Vanadium project, in the latter half of the 1990's. However, the new plant was disassembled in 2003, when Xstrata decided to mothball the entire project because of low world commodity prices. Precious Metals Australia Limited acquired control of the project in 2005 under the name of, Windimurra Vanadium, but in early 2009, before the rebuilding was complete, it too, was forced to cease any further activity on the project because of the adverse effects of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC).

Atlantic Limited Acquired Windimurra Project in Late 2009

Atlantic Limited acquired the Windimurra Vanadium Project in the latter half of 2009 and resumed production in 2012. Upgrading and some refurbishment work soon had the operation reaching record levels of vanadium production and by the end of the year it had produced 142 tonnes of contained vanadium. The 2014 maintenance shutdown of the plant, that intended to focus on upgrading the refinery and roasting kiln, took longer than planned, as other work became identifiable that also required attention. The longer than planned shutdown resulted in cutting short the refinery feedstock but by late January, 2014, all was well again, but only for a short period, as access roads to the project became flooded and were closed due to heavy rains near the end of the month.

Mining was suspended at the Windimurra Vanadium Project for more than a week at the end of January as a result of the crusher circuit becoming damaged. The crushing and screening of high titanium iron ore lump was suspended along with the trucking activities because of the weather.

Fire Destroys Windimurra Beneficiation Plant in 2014

On February 4, 2014, while the beneficiation plant was undergoing scheduled maintenance, a fire broke out within the plant. While no injuries were sustained, there was substantial damage done to the plant infrastructure to such an extent it was recommended the whole plant be demolished and rebuilt from the foundations up. Further production ceased and has remained so since that occurrence.

As a result of the fire, Atlantic Limited, were forced to call in the administrators to administer the affairs of two of its subsidiary companies, Midwest Vanadium and Atlantic Vanadium Holdings, after its major shareholder, Droxford International, failed to agree on a rescue package for the troubled Windimurra Vanadium Project. Negotiations had been taking place since the fire destroyed the beneficiation plant and the subsequent closing down of the troubled project.