Donald Mineral Sands

The Donald Project is near the town of Minyip, in the Wimmera region of Victoria, about 300 km north-west of Melbourne.

Location and composition

The Donald Project will operate 15 km east of Minyip, developing a world-class mineral deposit discovered in the 1970s. The site contains significant reserves of zirconium, titanium, and rare earth elements, including neodymium and praseodymium. The land is currently arable and mixed use. Astron already owns several properties on and off the Mining Licence area (MIN5532).

Mineral sands

The Donald Project will mine valuable minerals naturally deposited in ancient beaches and riverbeds millions of years ago. These include rare earth elements and heavy minerals. They are essential components in advanced machinery, phones, computers, and everyday items like paint, sunscreen, ceramics, and paper. The minerals are also crucial for water filtration, medical devices, and aerospace components. These resources will play an increasingly critical role in global development.

Project status

Pending Victorian Government work plan approval, we are targeting plant construction in 2025 and operations in late 2026. This is a $450 to 490 million project. We have secured $183 million in funding. A final investment decision is targeted in early 2025. Our project aligns with Australia's Critical Minerals Strategy, a national framework to grow the critical minerals sector, and the Victorian Critical Minerals Roadmap, a plan to support the industry.

Community benefits

The Donald Project will generate significant economic and social benefits across the Wimmera region over its 42-year lifespan. Our operations will create more than 600 local jobs and contribute $205 million annually to the region's economy. Working with local communities, we will support regional development through training, business partnerships, and community investment.

Environmental management

Our wet mining process and enclosed processing system will protect the environment and minimise dust emissions. Real-time monitoring will ensure we meet strict Victorian and Commonwealth health standards. We will progressively rehabilitate each mined area within five to 10 years, rebuilding soil quality, and restoring landscape function fit for productive farming.

Safety and compliance

The Donald Project will mine mineral sands, not uranium. All soils contain naturally occurring trace uranium and thorium, but our levels will be more than 18 times below Victorian limits. Even before implementing any controls, the maximum site boundary exposure under our Radiation Management Licence will be just 0.025 millisieverts annually - a fraction of regulatory limits.

From coal to
critical minerals

Conzinc Riotinto of Australia Ltd (CRA, now Rio Tinto) explored the Wimmera in the late 1970s looking for coal. CRA presumed the geology of the Murray Basin would mirror the La Trobe Valley and the Gippsland Basin. But, instead of coal, CRA discovered vast mineral sands deposits containing titanium, zircon, and rare earth minerals. Back then, only titanium was a well-known commodity with a stable market. So, CRA relinquished the tenements in late 1990 after merging with Rio Tinto.

By the 2000s, growing global urbanisation and electrification had created strong markets for zircon and rare earth minerals. Astron acquired the tenement rights in 2004. After 20 years, and more than $100M investment - in engineering, design, land, water acquisition and environmental and heritage studies - the project is on the cusp of development. Some 50 years on from discovery, this once discarded mineral deposit promises critical ingredients for the technology we increasingly rely on.

Twenty years in the making

The Donald Project will mark a new chapter in the Wimmera's pioneering history. Twenty years in the making, the project now awaits Victorian Government Work Plan approval. DMS expects to begin construction in 2025 and operations in late 2026/27.
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DMS will develop the project in partnership with US-based Energy Fuels, which has provided $183 million in secured funding. This timeline charts Donald Project development from approvals through to operational readiness, building on two decades of careful planning.

Tenements and development

The Donald Project area includes two deposits: Donald and Jackson. Donald Mineral Sands (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 – but only the resource deposit area as indicated on the map by the hashed marking (less than half the total retention licenced area). Progressing RL2002 to development would require conversion to a Mining Licence and the necessary planning, environmental and heritage assessment, and approvals.

A separate entity, Jackson Mineral Sands (JMS), will manage the Jackson deposit licences, which include:

Retention Licence RL2003 (16,230 ha)
EL8516 (under application to replace previously-held EL5186).

The Jackson deposit is a potential future development opportunity. It would also be subject to conversion to a Mining Licence and the necessary planning, environmental and heritage assessments, and approvals.

DMS and JMS are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Astron.

Protecting the land

The Donald Project will restore agricultural productivity through careful soil management and progressive land rehabilitation. Mining will temporarily displace the equivalent of about three farms over its 42-year lifespan. The project will deploy modern mining methods and proven rehabilitation techniques to return the land to productive agriculture.
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We'll use a 'moving hole' technique to mine the site in open-pit style. We will divide the site into numbered blocks, 500m wide and 250m long and up to 23m deep. We will mine one set of blocks while rehabilitating previously mined areas and preparing the next. This approach will allow us to progressively rehabilitate the land and minimise environmental impacts. Rehabilitation of each block will begin within five years. We expect to return land to productive farming in five to 10 years.