Critical minerals company Tivan has announced it will focus on mining its Western Australian deposit, essentially shelving mining at its Northern Territory Mount Peake development, even giving up access routes to the deposit, but has said it still has plans for a pilot minerals processing plant at Darwin Habour’s Middle Arm.

In a statement, Tivan executive chairman Grant Wilson said the company had purchased 100 per cent of the Speewah project on April 11 for $20 million from King River Resources, and the board now recognised it as Tivan’s “flagship project” and was prioritising its development as the “core mission” of the company.

The Speewah vanadium titanium and iron deposit is about 100km south of the port town of Wyndham in the Kimberley region in northwest Western Australia.

Mr Wilson said the company would retain it Mount Peak main vanadium titanium and iron lease, about 230km north of Alice Springs, but development planning work would be limited “at least in the short-term”.

However the initial ore samples from the Speewah project would be processed at the planned pilot project at Middle Arm on Darwin Harbour Mr Wilson said.

But to reduce its costs, the company said it would surrender secondary mineral leases and the two access authorities – including for a haul road – which were earlier granted by the NT Government in support of the Mount Peake development.

“Tivan has now deferred the timeframe for any development or mining activity on the ground at Mount Peake, the board believes it is a prudent decision to relinquish this ancillary tenure and significantly reduce holdings costs for the company,” he said.

“Tivan can reapply for the ancillary mineral leases and access authorities if and when required.

“While relinquishing the facilitation leases at Mount Peake is a straightforward decision from an accounting point of view, the process has required a high degree of sensitivity and ongoing engagement with the CLC, the Northern Territory government and Stirling Station,” Mr Wilson said.

In mid-February the company announced it has an agreement with the NT Government to enable the pilot minerals processing plant being built there, an announcement which came a month after Mr Wilson told an extraordinary general meeting if he was elected as executive chairman, and there was no change in the company’s direction, there was “a 100 per cent likelihood that the company would fail”.

The company made a statement to the ASX announcing it had made the agreement reversing its September 30, 2021 decision to scrap its plan to construct an $800 million mineral processing facility at Middle Arm, after backlash to its 2019 proposal to the Environment Protection Authority for the facility.

The company said on February 13, it was provided a ‘do not deal’ letter by the NT Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics Department with a commitment for an initial period of six months.