WA Kaolin secures LNG supply for Wickepin project

Australian mineral exploration company WA Kaolin has signed a 15-year contract for the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for its Wickepin kaolin project.

The chilled fuel will be supplied by Mid-West LNG (MWLNG) a group company of Clean Energy Fuels Australia (CEFA).

The supply of LNG will be used to fire the rotary kiln at Wickepin that dries the kaolin ore, which is the first step in the company’s proprietary K99 dry processing method, WA Kaolin said in its statement.

The contract, which includes the supply of commissioning gas from 1 September 2021 to the end of 2021, will commence on 1 January 2022.

The contract will run for 15 years with reviews at year 5 and year 10. It also provides two options to extend for a further five years respectively.

The contract is valued at circa $22 million over the 15-year period.

The contract provides for the storage and re-vapourization infrastructure, including delivery of LNG by a virtual pipeline.

CEFA is an established Perth-based company that provides, as part of its energy transition platform, integrated solutions developing small-scale LNG infrastructure assets for remote mining operations and communities within Australia.

CEFA is currently investing in new production plants and associated LNG infrastructure to provide lower emissions fuel to the rural regions of Australia.

CEFA, through Mid-West LNG, is in the process of building a new LNG plant in Mount Magnet, located approximately 600km north of Wickepin, and WAK will be the second customer supplied from this new facility.

The Mount Magnet LNG Hub is expected to become a $100M investment when the site is completely built out with the ability to supply in excess of 500 tonnes per day of LNG.