A joint venture of Woodside Energy Ltd., Perth, and Melbourne-based Energy Developments Pty. Ltd. (EDL) has signed an LNG supply deal with mineral sands company Sheffield Resources Ltd., Perth, for Sheffield’s Thunderbird project in the Kimberley region of northern Western Australia.
Woodside and EDL will established a dedicated road tanker fleet to deliver LNG from Woodside’s Pluto LNG facilities on the Burrup Peninsula near Karratha to the Sheffield operation on the Dampier Peninsula about 60 km west of Derby.
The supply agreement is for 1,950 terajoules/year of LNG to Thunderbird storage facilities over a 15-year period.
Sheffield plans to use the LNG primarily as a low-cost fuel source for low-temperature roasting of ilmenite at the Thunderbird processing plant.
Initial mineral sands production, including zircon and high-grade ilmenite, will begin in 2020. The mine life is expected to be more than 40 years.