McCullough Roberston has supported specialist investment manager, Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners (Quinbrook) on its investment in Mount Isa Quartz Pty Ltd, marking a significant step in the commercialisation of Queensland’s quartz resources.

Quinbrook’ s investment, which will be facilitated through a sophisticated two-tranche funding structure, has been designed to support the phased development of Mount Isa Quartz’ promising quartz assets, with the first tranche focusing on accelerated exploration and testing activities to define and validate the suitability of the quartz for various applications, including its potential use in energy transition infrastructure.

The funding agreement has the potential to unlock further investment opportunities that will make a substantial contribution to the economic growth of the region, and the security of Australia’s domestic supply chain of critical minerals.

In addition to the funding agreement, the McCullough Roberston team, led by corporate partner, Meg Morgan, successfully advised on a bespoke exploration agreement under which Mount Isa Quartz is permitted to explore for quartz across tenements held by other entities within its corporate group.

Quinbrook now has plans to develop and build a state-of-the-art silicon smelter and polysilicon manufacturing facility in Townsville, Queensland, which will source quartz locally from the North Queensland region as part of its broader initiatives to strengthen Australia’s position in the renewable energy.