Audalia clears a major permitting step for Medcalf

Medcalf proposal enters regulatory review

Audalia Resources Limited (ASX:ACP) has lodged a Mine Development and Closure Proposal for its Medcalf Titanium-Vanadium-Iron Project with Western Australia’s Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration. The submission marks a substantial permitting step, but it is not an approval to build or mine: Audalia still requires DMPE approval of the proposal and other regulatory clearances before development can proceed.

The MDCP sets out how the project would be developed and operated, including infrastructure requirements, environmental management, rehabilitation and eventual closure. Audalia says the work has progressed from its January 2026 maiden Ore Reserve Estimate and is intended to establish how Medcalf can operate safely and in compliance with environmental requirements.

11.77 million tonne probable reserve underpins plans

“Project Location”

Medcalf is located about 100 kilometres south-west of Norseman, with the proposed logistics chain extending beyond the mine site. Audalia plans a 74-kilometre private access road from the Coolgardie to Esperance Highway, followed by about 150 kilometres of on-highway trucking to the Port of Esperance.

The project’s January reserve statement contains 11.77 million tonnes of probable ore grading 11.01% titanium dioxide, 53.80% iron oxide and 0.61% vanadium pentoxide. No proved reserve was reported. The company’s updated study described a potential direct-shipping operation producing High Titanium Lump Ore and High Titanium Fine Ore for blast furnace liner protection.

The filing builds on the maiden ore reserve and economics previously outlined by Audalia, although today’s announcement does not provide revised capital costs, operating costs, financing terms or a new production schedule. Those omissions matter because the regulatory submission advances the project’s design without, on its own, resolving the commercial hurdles between permitting and construction.

Final investment decision remains ahead

Audalia says it is working with an unnamed Western Australian mining, crushing and haulage service provider with experience in the Dundas area and Esperance port facilities. The collaboration is intended to add operating input to the company’s feasibility work and support what Audalia describes as a 10-year project.

The company continues to target a final investment decision in collaboration with project and community partners. A Ministerial Statement approving the project was granted by the Western Australian Environment Minister on 4 July 2024, according to the filing, but the MDCP review and other required approvals remain live gates. The next meaningful evidence of progress will be whether the proposal is approved, how the remaining infrastructure and funding requirements are quantified, and whether Audalia can convert the permitting milestone into a funded construction decision.