“Australian Mines is pleased to secure this mining lease which, combined with the Lucknow and Kokomo mining leases, contains the resources for the critical battery minerals at the Sconi nickel-cobalt-scandium project in north Queensland,” the company said.

“Australian Mines plans to operate the Sconi battery minerals project to produce battery grade nickel sulphate for approximately 30 years with the potential to produce scandium oxide as a by-product.”

The announcement fired up the company’s shares but long-term investors have a long way to go to recover their funds. AUZ had been trading above $1.30 in 2017 and are now under 3 cents.

The project was mired in controversy several years ago after its then-managing director Benjamin Bell made statements about the project and its funding that were found to be false or misleading.

Bell was earlier this year fined $70,000 and disqualified from managing corporations for two years for breaching his duties as a director. The company was also fined $450,000.

The Sconi project involves a $1 billion commercial battery metals production plant and a 2 million tonnes a year mine. Total employment would be about 800 people.

Australian Mines said the Greenvale approval was another step closer to realising the project. A final investment decision was expected by the end of 2025.

“Australian Mines is in discussion about the potential for a strategic collaborative partnership for the development of the Sconi battery materials project.”

The company has claimed that by the time of commissioning in 2028, Sconi would be meeting surging demand from one of the largest producers of advanced batteries, LG Energy Solution.