Australian Mines Plans to Complete PFS for Flemington Scandium Project in Q1 2027

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 24, Australian Mines announced that it has engaged multiple specialist firms for the pre-feasibility study (PFS) of the Flemington scandium project in New South Wales, with the goal of completing the study by mid-Q1 2027. The work covers multiple specialist areas including overall PFS management, metallurgy, geotechnical engineering, tailings, water supply, environmental approvals, mine rehabilitation and closure.

Faultzone will be responsible for overall PFS integration, including design basis, study schedule, interfaces between disciplines, infrastructure, capital and operating cost consolidation, project economics, implementation plan and risk assessment. Simulus Engineers will undertake metallurgical testwork and process engineering, targeting a product of scandium oxide with purity exceeding 99.9%; GeoHart & Associates will be responsible for the geotechnical basis for mining and infrastructure and will verify the existing tailings storage option. AARC Environmental Solutions and Hydrogeologist.com.au will respectively advance the environmental and approvals pathway, stakeholder and heritage matters, rehabilitation and closure assumptions, and the preferred water supply option.

This round of PFS builds on the Flemington preliminary economic assessment completed by SRK Consulting in April 2026. Australian Mines stated that the current study will focus on verifying and refining existing design assumptions, filling remaining technical data gaps, and integrating the outputs of all disciplines into a complete PFS. The base case maintains an annual production of 60 tonnes of scandium oxide, while also evaluating an expansion scenario of up to 180 tonnes per year.

The Flemington project is located in central New South Wales, approximately 70 kilometers southwest of Dubbo, with the orebody hosted in a lateritic profile formed from ultramafic rocks. According to Australian Mines' latest resource data estimated at a 300 ppm scandium cut-off grade, the project has a mineral resource of approximately 6.3 million tonnes, with an average scandium grade of 446 ppm, cobalt grade of 601 ppm and nickel grade of 1,350 ppm, with measured and indicated resources accounting for a relatively high proportion.

The company has previously submitted a mining lease application for Flemington and commenced environmental studies. The project area has access to roads, power and a regional workforce, and the subsequent PFS will further determine the mining method, beneficiation and metallurgical process, tailings facilities, water supply method, infrastructure configuration, and capital and operating costs.