Astron Corporation Limited (Astron, ASX:ATR) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Grant Huggins as General Manager, Operations.
Grant's prime responsibility will be the establishment and management of the Donald Rare Earths and Mineral Sands Project operations. In this role Grant will have overall responsibility for Donald Project production, maintenance, safety, environmental management, and community relations. Initial activities will include establishing the operational requirements for the project, managing the operational readiness programme, and managing the project's transition from construction and commissioning to operations. Grant has broad experience as a mining and manufacturing executive, leader and engineer.
He has served for over twenty years in open-cut and underground gold mining, mineral sands project development and operations, and steel manufacturing. His experience covers greenfield and brownfield mining operations and, more recently, business transformation and strategy. Grant's significant mineral sands experience includes approximately 10 years as a member of the Iluka Resources' senior leadership team in the Murray Basin in Victoria, responsible for the development and operation of three mineral sands projects. For the last decade Grant has held senior leadership executive positions with Bluescope - New Zealand Steel spanning operations management, project delivery, strategy formulation and execution, negotiation of major supply and services agreements, and stakeholder relationship development.
His most recent roles at New Zealand Steel included General Manager of Mining and Services, which includes the Waikato North Head ironsands mine, and Project Director - Electric Arc Furnace. Grant's professional qualifications include a Bachelor of Mining Engineering (honours), Master of Engineering Science, Master of Business Administration and a Western Australian Quarry Managers Ticket (Unrestricted). Grant will commence with Astron in early January 2025 and will divide his time between Melbourne and Minyip, Victoria. In announcing the appointment, Astron's Managing Director, Tiger Brown, stated: 'Grant's appointment represents a crucial step in the progression of the Donald Mineral Sands and Rare Earth Project towards production.
His skills and experience are exceptionally wellsuited to Astron's activities in developing and operating the Project
For further information, please contact: Tiger Brown, Managing Director +61 3 5385 7088 Joshua Theunissen, Australian Company Secretary +61 3 5385 7088 joshua.theunissen@astronlimited.com
About Astron
Astron Corporation Limited (ASX: ATR) is an ASX listed company, with over 35 years of experience in mineral sands processing and downstream product development, as well as the marketing and sales of zircon and titanium dioxide products. Astron's prime focus is on the development of its large, long-life and attractive zircon assemblage Donald Rare Earth and Mineral Sands Project in regional Victoria. Astron also conducts a mineral sands trading operation based in Shenyang, China; operates a mineral separation plant in Yingkou, China and own the Niafarang Mineral Sands Project in Senegal
About Donald Rare Earths and Mineral Sands Project
The Donald Rare Earths and Mineral Sands Project, located 300 km northwest of Melbourne in the Wimmera Region of western Victoria, is planned to become a globally significant, longlife supplier of critical rare earth elements, including neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium as well as zirconium, hafnium and titanium minerals. It contains over 2.6 billion tonnes of Mineral Resources at 4.4% HM grade and comprises two adjoining deposits, the Donald deposit (which constitutes the area covered by MIN5532 and RL2002) and the Jackson deposit (RL2003). Phase 1 of the Donald Project will be developed on the granted Mining Licence MIN5532 and will utilise only 17% of Astron's total mineral resource. It is forecast to generate post-tax NPV of $852m over a 41.5-year mine life
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