Zeotech has inked a significant direct shipping ore (DSO) offtake deal with an international trading house in China for kaolin from its Toondoon project.
The committed volumes would position Zeotech as one of the leading global suppliers of DSO kaolin, company chief executive officer James Marsh said.
And he said the early cash flows would provide a robust foundation for advancing the company’s AusPozz manufacturing project.
“Securing this binding offtake term sheet with MSI (Jiangsu Mineral Sources International Trading Co) marks a pivotal milestone for the company and represents significant commercial validation of Zeotech’s Toondoon kaolin and a key step in de-risking the AusPozz project,” Mr Marsh said.
“We’re pleased to partner with one of the world’s leading bulk raw material trading companies to deliver kaolin to global markets, which verifies the exceptionally high quality of Zeotech’s kaolin resource.”
The committed minimum annual quantities outlined in the offtake term sheet with MSI over an initial five-year term exceed the total product volumes relied upon in Zeotech’s recent AusPozz project preliminary feasibility study.
Related: Compelling’ business case for Qld metakaolin operation.
They include 800,000 of kaolin DSO and 150,000 tonnes of cosmetic kaolin DSO.
Zeotech said the commercial terms established in the deal were sufficient to catalyse and sustain operations at the Toondoon kaolin project, with mining activities anticipated to commence in the first half of 2026.
The project, 20km south of Mundubbera, is one of the highest-grade kaolin deposits in Australia held under an approved mining lease.
It will be mined as a simple open-cut operation, connected to the Port of Bundaberg via an approved B-Double route of about 260km.
The company’s proposed AusPozz project would draw on ultra-high purity kaolin from that mine for manufacturing metakaolin – a low-carbon alternative to traditional cement – at a facility at Port of Bundaberg.
This article first appeared in Industry Queensland.
Zeotech Limited’s CEO James Marsh will present the Toondoon project at the next Connecting Industry Luncheon on October 8. To learn more, connect here.
