QEM Limited's Commitment to ESG

ESG Pathway

QEM acknowledges that mining and metals are essential, from building sustainable economic growth and supporting local community in Julia Creek and throughout North Queensland, to enabling innovations needed to address climate change urgency – but they must be produced responsibly.

QEM believes that integrating positive environmental, social and governance (ESG) qualities with rigorous, fundamental financial diligence is crucial to delivering long-term risk-adjusted performance. Proactively seeking opportunities for positive change in ESG matters is fundamental to our mission and fiduciary responsibility and we believe this approach will enhance shareholder value.

QEM is charting a course to help build resilience and enhance our social licence through a greater commitment to long-term, sustainable value creation that embraces the wider demands of people and the planet. QEM’s dual commodities of vanadium and oil will help address Australia’s growing energy storage and fuel security issues in the transition to a renewable energy-driven society.

Our globally significant vanadium resource will be a key input into the renewable long duration energy storage (LDES) markets through the use of vanadium redox flow batteries (VFB), and the oil shale is intended to be upgraded to a transport fuel utilising green hydrogen produced onsite at Julia Creek.

QEM’s ESG-inclusive Board Matrix may be found here.

Project Examples

How QEM’s operations and activities align with the team’s commitment to upholding high ESG standards.

Renewables Project

The QEM team is very motivated to play its part in the energy transition as we develop our flagship critical minerals project, with a goal to power our mining processes and green hydrogen production using 100% renewable energy.

In 2022, QEM commissioned a 163-metre meteorological mast for the Julia Creek Renewables Project in addition to a Fulcrum 3D SoDAR and Solar Monitoring Station. Further studies were conducted to de-risk the proposed 1GW hybrid wind/solar farm. Environmental assessments, topographic surveys, preliminary flood modelling and geotechnical studies were completed at potential wind turbine locations. The Julia Creek Renewables Project was sold to one of the world’s largest renewables developers, Enel Green Power through its Australian arm, Enel Green Power Australia (EGPA) in January.

QEM’s Julia Creek Project and the proposed Renewables Project will benefit from the Queensland Government’s commitment to deliver the $5B CopperString transmission network to unlock more than 500 billion dollars in new critical minerals in North Queensland.

Circular Economy

QEM engaged The University of Queensland (UQ) in a Circular Economy project to upcycle vanadium-bearing spent catalyst and process this Queensland industrial waste into high purity vanadium pentoxide (V2O5). 

V2O5 is the critical component of the catalyst required to produce sulphuric acid and our aim is to recover and repurpose the V2O5 for use in vanadium batteries critical to achieving Australia’s carbon reduction targets. This research and development project with UQ is part of the Trailblazer Universities Program.

Environment

QEM has undertaken a baseline assessment of the ecological values within QEM’s tenement, including an extensive post-wet season flora and fauna field survey, dry season flora field survey, regional ecosystem flora surveys, habitat assessments, bird surveys, spotlighting surveys and fauna trapping.

A topographic aerial drone survey of the entire tenement area has been conducted to baseline the environmental condition of QEM’s tenements before any ground is broken on the project.

The Company monitors groundwater and surface water quality monthly (right) to characterise environmental baseline conditions and inform the engineering design for tailings storage facilities.

This is to ensure that following the removal of mining products, QEM is able to meet its goal to rehabilitate the Project area to the ecological quality and community that existed onsite prior to disturbance or to a standard resembling adjacent ecological communities. Acceptable rehabilitation outcomes will be determined through community consultation, landowner consultation and discussions with the local council.

Community

Supporting and investing in our local community is a high priority for QEM, with a particular focus on youth and women’s development, education and sport. QEM has invested in a permanent presence in the town of Julia Creek, just 6km from our flagship vanadium project. Image (right) taken at official opening on 17 April 2023 by Mayor of McKinlay Shire Council.

As an emerging vanadium operator, key to storing Queensland vast reserves of renewable energy, QEM will support and contribute to the regional development of the NWMP, with economic benefits to the region and the state, including:
• Employment and training throughout the construction and operation
• Ongoing indirect and direct outputs, business generation from local / regional goods and services procurement leading to maintained or increased business turnover and household income
• Create and maintain ongoing trade and employment opportunities.