Clean TeQ Water Wins Design Contract for Rasp Mine Tailings Plant

Clean TeQ Water Lands Key Contract at Rasp Mine

Clean TeQ Water (ASX:CNQ) has secured a pivotal Design and Construct contract from Broken Hill Operations Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Broken Hill Mines Limited (ASX:BHM), to deliver its proprietary ATA® Tailings Dewatering Plant at the Rasp Mine in New South Wales. The facility is engineered to handle 750,000 tonnes per annum of dry solids, aligning precisely with the mine’s target production capacity, and is scheduled for practical completion in the first half of 2027.

Transitioning Tailings Management to Filtered Disposal

The ATA® plant replaces the mine’s traditional solar drying method, which has constrained throughput to 500,000 tonnes per annum and imposed higher operating costs. Clean TeQ’s technology delivers a filter cake suitable for in-pit stacking, eliminating the need for expensive pressure filtration and enabling safer, filtered tailings disposal. This shift is significant given the mining industry's increasing regulatory and investor pressure to move away from wet tailings storage facilities, which are harder to permit and insure.

ATA® technology’s dual polymer system enhances dewatering efficiency by anchoring fine particles to coarser fractions, producing a sand-like material with low residual moisture and reduced reagent consumption. This positions the Rasp Mine to improve geotechnical stability and reduce its tailings storage footprint, addressing environmental and operational challenges simultaneously.

Long-Term Revenue Potential from Polymer Supply

Beyond the construction contract, Clean TeQ Water and Broken Hill Operations are finalising a Polymer Supply Agreement. This deal would appoint Clean TeQ as the ongoing supplier of proprietary ATA® reagents and license the technology for continued use at Rasp Mine, opening the door to recurring revenue streams. The Polymer Supply Agreement is expected to be executed within 14 days of the Design and Construct contract, with termination rights if not finalised within 28 days.

CEO Peter Voigt emphasised the strategic importance of this partnership, highlighting Clean TeQ’s role in enabling safer tailings management and water reuse at Rasp. The company anticipates near-term construction revenue and potential long-term financial benefits from the polymer supply arrangement, complementing recent contract wins such as the A$10.4 million DESALX contract and the $19 million Rio Tinto contract that have bolstered its project pipeline and financial position.

Strategic Fit with Rasp Mine’s Expansion Plans

The Rasp Mine is one of the world’s largest silver, lead, and zinc deposits and is undergoing a ramp-up to its 750,000 tonnes per annum nameplate processing capacity. The new ATA® plant is integral to this expansion, enabling throughput increases by removing the bottleneck imposed by solar drying. Additionally, the mine is advancing the restart of the nearby Pinnacles Mine, with ore to be processed through the Rasp facility, suggesting further tailings management demand in the near future.

Clean TeQ’s technology and contract come at a time when the mining sector is under heightened scrutiny following global tailings dam failures and the introduction of the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM). The ATA® system’s ability to deliver filtered tailings at lower capital and operating costs could make it attractive to other mines facing similar regulatory and operational pressures.