VRX Silica (ASX:VRX) is targeting maiden production for the second half of 2026 at the Arrowsmith North Silica Sand Project in Western Australia, after securing environmental approval.
The state environmental approval enables VRX to secure the remaining ancillary approvals and finalise project infrastructure agreements, binding offtake and financing.
For Arrowsmith North, other permitting and approvals processes have run concurrently to the state environmental approvals process and state remaining approvals are expected to follow in the coming weeks.
These approvals include a part v works approval from the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation for construction of the processing plant and a groundwater abstraction licence.
Managing Director Bruce Maluish says the company looks forward to maintaining engagement with the Arrowsmith North stakeholders as it moves towards starting construction.
“Arrowsmith North presents an opportunity for Western Australia to host an environmentally responsible, high-quality silica sand operation that can service the growing glass and foundry markets in Asia and underpin the establishment of a new long-life export industry in the state’s Midwest region,” Maluish says.
The Arrowsmith North Project, located 270km north of Perth, has a proved and probable ore reserve of 221 million tonnes @ 99.5% silicon dioxide.
VRX proposed to ramp up the project’s production from 1 million tonnes per year to produce more than 2 million tonnes per year of silica sand for decades.
Globally, the silica sand market is growing, driven by the rising demand in the construction sector and for automobile glass in Asia’s automotive industry.
Australia is currently the largest exporter of silica sand in the Asia-Pacific region – with exports exceeding 3.3 million tonnes in 2024.
VRX silica is a pure-play silica sand company focused on developing its projects in Western Australia.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: VRX Silica
