ASX-listed Austral Resources Australia has signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding with Metal Bank to evaluate the potential toll treatment of ore at its Rocklands processing facility in Queensland.

The agreement will assess the viability of processing ore from Metal Bank’s Millennium copper/cobalt/gold project through Rocklands, which Austral recently acquired. Millennium is located within 20 km of the facility and is viewed as having potential to commence mining within two years — broadly aligned with the proposed restart timing for Rocklands.

Austral said the MoU represents a further endorsement of its ambition to establish Rocklands as a regional processing hub serving multiple ore sources across the Cloncurry and Mt Isa districts. The arrangement is non-exclusive and non-binding, with any formal agreement subject to technical, commercial and regulatory due diligence.

Austral chairperson David Newling said the Millennium project could provide attractive near-term feedstock for the facility.

“We believe that the Millenium project is an attractive near-term feedstock for our Rocklands processing facility,” he said.

“Tim and his team share a common view that NW Queensland is highly prospective, particularly for copper.

“Once again, this MoU reinforces that our infrastructure is strategically attractive and capable of unlocking value beyond our own deposits. Whilst technical work still needs to be completed, discussions to date have been constructive and supportive of a pathway that benefits shareholders and the broader Cloncurry region.

“As we start to near nameplate capacity at our Rocklands facility, we can only encourage others to come and discuss with us how they may be able to work with us in the future, before the ‘full’ sign goes up on the gate," said Newling.

Metal Bank CEO Tim Gilbert said the processing pathway could accelerate development of Millennium.

“We have long been aware of the upside value at Millennium. The opportunity to significantly increase the copper/cobalt resource with our recent mining lease application, our imminent move to 80% ownership of the project, and now the opportunity to work with Austral towards a processing solution, highlights that the Millennium project is a near-term, valuable copper/cobalt project in the heart of NW Queensland,” he said.

“We look forward to working with Austral to take Millennium to the next stage.”