Australian Mines has appointed a specialist consultant team to complete the pre-feasibility study for its Flemington Scandium Project, targeting delivery in the first quarter of 2027. The study will retain a 60-tonne-per-year scandium oxide reference case while testing production scenarios of up to 180 tonnes per year.
- Specialist team appointed across technical, environmental and approvals disciplines
- Flemington PFS targeted for completion in the first quarter of 2027
- 60 tpa scandium oxide remains the reference case
- Higher production scenarios of up to 180 tpa will also be assessed
- Study will validate April 2026 Scoping Study assumptions and fill remaining gaps
Australian Mines Limited (ASX:AUZ) has moved the Flemington Scandium Project into a more defined study phase, appointing a specialist team to deliver a pre-feasibility study targeted for completion in the first quarter of 2027. The milestone is significant because it shifts the project from broad scoping work towards the technical, environmental and economic detail needed to assess development more rigorously.
Specialist Team Covers Core PFS Risks
Faultzone, led by Steve Howard, will manage the study’s integration, including the basis of design, schedule, infrastructure, consolidated capital and operating costs, economics, implementation planning and risk assessment. Simulus Engineers will handle metallurgical testwork and process engineering, with the program designed to support scandium oxide production at greater than 99.9% purity.
GeoHart & Associates will establish the geotechnical basis for mining and infrastructure and update the tailings storage concept. AARC Environmental Solutions and Hydrogeologist.com.au will address environmental and approvals work, stakeholder and heritage considerations, rehabilitation and closure, and the preferred and contingency water-supply strategies.
Scoping Study Work to Be Validated
The PFS will build on SRK Consulting’s April 2026 Scoping Study, which covered the project’s mineral resource, mining, metallurgy and processing, infrastructure, hydrogeology, tailings, environmental and social considerations and project economics. Australian Mines says its approach is to validate, refine and integrate that existing work rather than duplicate completed technical studies.
The detailed reference case remains 60 tonnes per annum of scandium oxide. The study will also examine scenarios of up to 180 tonnes per annum, preserving development optionality without presenting the larger scale as the project’s selected production outcome.
Economics and Approvals Remain Ahead
The announcement does not provide updated capital costs, operating costs, project economics, funding requirements or a final investment decision. Those outputs are among the matters the PFS is expected to develop alongside updated metallurgical results, mine planning inputs, water supply, geotechnical and tailings assessments, environmental approvals analysis, rehabilitation and closure plans.
That leaves the first-quarter 2027 target as the next major test of execution. Until the study is completed, the 60 tpa case and the higher-scale scenarios remain study parameters rather than approved production plans, with water, approvals, processing performance and project costs still capable of shaping Flemington’s eventual form.
Bottom Line?
The consultant appointments give Flemington a clearer route to its next technical milestone, but the investment case still depends on the PFS converting study assumptions into quantified economics and an executable approvals and funding pathway.
Questions in the middle?
- Can the updated metallurgical work support the targeted scandium oxide purity and selected processing route?
- How will water supply, tailings design and environmental approvals affect project costs and timing?
- Will the PFS favour the 60 tpa reference case or establish a credible pathway to the 180 tpa scenario?