Tivan (ASX: TVN) has reached a significant milestone with its Speewah fluorite project in Western Australia, entering the due diligence phase for financing with the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF). This advancement follows a non-binding and conditional letter of support from Export Finance Australia (EFA). The due diligence phase commences after NAIF’s strategic assessment, which evaluated early-stage strategic alignment, project feasibility, Indigenous engagement, and broader economic benefits. Tivan will now prepare a formal investment proposal for NAIF’s consideration.
NAIF, a Commonwealth government financier, provides concessional loans for infrastructure projects in northern Australia. In 2023, it earmarked $500 million for critical minerals projects. Tivan’s EFA letter and NAIF due diligence complement existing conditional equity funding arrangements, marking substantial progress towards securing full debt and equity financing for the Speewah project’s development. Tivan is advancing Speewah through a joint venture with Sumitomo Corporation and the Japan Organisation for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC).
Tivan executive chair Grant Wilson noted the timely progress with EFA and NAIF, reflecting Speewah’s strong alignment with Australia’s critical minerals strategy and its partnership with Sumitomo Corporation. The Australian government recognised fluorine as a critical mineral in December 2023 and awarded Speewah major project status the following year. Elsewhere, Tivan has identified three new areas of outcropping copper mineralisation during Stage 1 exploration at its Turiscai project in Timor-Leste. Tivan is an Australian resources company focused on developing critical mineral projects.
Sumitomo and JOGMEC’s special purpose subsidiary, Japan Fluorite Corporation, have made an initial $5.3 million equity investment to fund a feasibility study. This study will examine a mining and processing operation aimed at producing acid-grade fluorspar (higher than 97% calcium fluorite) for export to global markets. Fluorite ore is used to produce commercial-grade fluorspar products used in semiconductor manufacturing, EV batteries, refrigerants, aluminium fluxing and uranium enrichment.
