Strandline Resources Limited (ASX: STA) has confirmed that the first shipment of Heavy Mineral Concentrate (HMC) from its 100%-owned Coburn mineral sands project in Western Australia has been completed.
The shipment of approximately 6,500 metric tonnes of HMC product (containing valuable minerals of zircon sand, titanium ores and rare earth monazite) was loaded at the Port of Geraldton. The value of the shipment is ~A$6.5 million CIF, with sales proceeds expected to be received later this week.
The first shipment of HMC is part of ore commissioning and ramp-up of Coburn’s Wet Concentration Plant (WCP). Production and haulage of HMC product to port storage facilities is continuing, with preparations already underway to co-ordinate the second shipment of HMC, which is targeted for January 2023.
Focus remains on increasing production throughput of the WCP towards design rates, improving plant availability and optimising product recoveries. While ramp up of the WCP continues, construction and commissioning teams remain focused on finalising the downstream Mineral Separation Plant (MSP) and remaining support infrastructure.
“Achieving production and cashflow is a major milestone for Strandline and sets us up for our next chapter of strong growth. We are now preparing for a second shipment while also completing construction and commissioning of the MSP, which will in turn drive further increases in cashflow,” Managing Director Luke Graham said.
“With Coburn construction nearing completion and operations ramping up, the company continues to focus on managing the various risk factors associated with development of the project. This includes HSE risks, inclement weather, contractor performance, commissioning ramp-up risks and contractual claims and disputes.”
Coburn is a world-scale mineral sands deposit, containing a rich zircon-titanium HM assemblage, with 20Mt of in-situ HM, low slimes, low oversize and strong geological continuity across and along strike. (Figure 1).
The Project straddles the eastern boundary of the Shark Bay World Heritage Property but all exploration to date has been to the east of the Shark Bay Property.
Drilling since 2000 has outlined a major heavy mineral sand deposit known as the Amy Zone (Figure 2) which is over 35 kilometres long, up to 3 kilometres wide and between 10 and 50 metres thick.
Large Ore Reserve of 523Mt @ 1.11% Total Heavy Mineral (THM) underpins an initial mine life of 22.5 years at the planned mining rate of 23.4Mtpa of ore.
Coburn’s product suite and construction 50% complete means it is extremely well placed to capitalise on the forecast supply deficit, providing strong market fundamentals for development.
Updated Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) released in June 2020 confirmed the strong outlook for the Coburn mineral sands project. High margins and strong, long-term cash flows are the result of low operating costs and an exceptional, high-value zircon and titanium product suite.
The DFS was completed by a range of independent and highly reputable consultant/contractor firms with experience in mineral sands and Australian project development.
Strandline has secured major binding offtake contracts covering 100% of Coburn’s forecast mineral sands production, estimated at ~US$140m per annum (A$200m at AUD: USD 0.70), based on the pricing structures contained in the agreements and commodity price forecast assumptions contained in the Coburn updated DFS.
For further information please visit: https://www.strandline.com.au/
