Tivan has executed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Pacific Hydro to potentially integrate the Ord River hydro-electricity power plant into energy supply for the Speewah fluorite project located in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
The Ord River hydro power plant opened in 1997 and facilitated water and electricity from Lake Argyle to the Kimberley towns of Kununurra and Wyndham, as well as Rio Tinto’s Argyle diamond mine that ceased operating in November 2020.
The plant is the largest generator of hydro-electricity in WA, capable of generating over 212 gigawatt hours of emission-free energy per year.
As per the MoU, Tivan and Pacific Blue will initially focus on evaluating energy supply usage from the plant, which is located 85km from Speewah.
Tivan is set to be the first company to utilise the plant since the decommissioning of the Argyle mine.
Concurrently, Tivan has engaged Horizon Power to complete a feasibility study on power supply and transmission options for Speewah.
The study’s results will be incorporated into Tivan’s pre-feasibility study for Speewah, which is due in July.
Tivan said the MoU with Pacific Hydro and the feasibility study with Horizon Power will facilitate its energy supply strategy involving optimising renewable electricity supply.
“The board of Tivan is delighted to unveil our renewable energy strategy for the Speewah project,” Tivan executive chairman Grant Wilson said.
“Speewah hosts two world-class critical mineral deposits, at a proximate location to existing transmission infrastructure. This affords a unique opportunity to develop long-life green critical minerals, thereby delivering large-scale sustainable development to the east Kimberley region.”
The agreements with Pacific Hydro and Horizon Power follows Tivan moving to fast-track Speewah in January after the Federal Government added fluorine to the critical minerals list in December 2023.
Fluorite is used to produce commercial grade fluorspar products and fluorine. There is currently no domestic fluorspar or fluorine production in Australia, but Tivan is looking to become the first.
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