PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mineral sands miner Iluka has reported a 50% slump in revenue for the quarter ended March, compared with the previous quarter, owing to lower production and the deferral of sales.

Revenue for the quarter reached A$115.2-million, compared with the A$233.9-million reported in the previous quarter.

Iluka said on Thursday that the company had deferred some 11 000 t of zircon sales and 12 000 t of synthetic rutile sales until after the end of the quarter, in line with shipping schedules, while also scheduling bulk synthetic rutile shipments to align with the restart of synthetic rutile kiln 2 production.

Sales were also affected by a hiatus in zircon orders and deliveries during March, while the company engaged with customers regarding new pricing and payment frameworks, as well as lower ilmenite and by-product revenues associated with the lower Murray Basin ilmenite sales.

Furthermore, revenue was also impacted by lower production levels, with Iluka producing only 167 200 t of mineral sands during the quarter, compared with the 207 000 t produced in the previous quarter.

Zircon production declined from 84 200 t reported in the December quarter to 65 700 t, while rutile production was down from 58 000 t to 20 300 t.

The lower zircon and rutile production reflected the idling of the Hamilton mineral separation plant, in the Murray basin of Victoria, during January and February this year. Processing was restarted in March.

The Woornack, Rownack and Pirro operations, also in Victoria, were fully depleted during the quarter, and stockpiled concentrate from these operations, as well as a proportion of heavy mineral concentrate from the Jacinth-Ambrosia operation, in South Australia, would be processed at the Hamilton plant.

Meanwhile, mining at the Tutunup South mine, in Western Australia, restarted in February this year, with full capacity reached within 12 hours. Production rates have been as planned, and ilmenite from the mine was used as feed source for synthetic rutile kiln 2, which was reactivated during March.

The recommissioning of the kiln was progressing smoothly, Iluka said, and first product was planned to be shipped in April. Yearly production capacity would be around 200 000 t, and some 140 000 t of product would be produced in 2015.