PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mineral sands developer Strandline Resources will start a full definitive feasibility study (DFS) on its Coburn project, in Western Australia, after an upswing in mineral sands prices.

The company said on Thursday that the new DFS was driven by positive results from an internal project review, as well as market engagement activities that were undertaken in response to the significant increase in commodity prices.

MD Luke Graham said that the current favourable market dynamics and technological advancements in processing equipment provided significant opportunities for Strandline to increase the financial returns from Coburn.

“The strengthening demand for Coburn’s high-quality mineral sands products, particularly zircon and high-titanium minerals, and the strong inherent project fundamentals make us very confident about this outlook.”

Previous DFS work has shown that the project could have a mine life of more than 19 years, based on a mining rate of 23.4-million tonnes a year, to deliver 49 500 t of zircon, 109 000 t of ilmenite and 23 500 t of high-titanium oxide.

A recent internal review of the project found that the project could deliver a net present value of A$306-million, with significant upside potential identified, while the pre-tax internal rate of return has been forecast at 26%, with sales revenue expected to reach A$2.9-billion over the 19-year mine life.

“Coburn is a major, long-life asset located in the low-risk mineral sands mining jurisdiction of Western Australia. It complements our emerging mineral sands project portfolio in Tanzania and based on the long-term market forecast, would generate strong financial returns for shareholders,” said Graham.

He added that the company was now working to lock in key implementation partners over the coming year, including offtake agreements and major execution contracts, as well as funding providers.