PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Bald Hill joint venture (JV) partners have sold the first tantalum concentrate produced at the project, in Western Australia.
ASX-listed Tawana Resources and JV partner Alliance Mineral Assets will sell some 20 t to 30 t of high-grade tantalum concentrate to HC Starck Tantalum and Niobium, with the JV partners remaining engaged with the company for a long-term offtake agreement for the high-grade concentrate product.
In addition, the JV partners also agreed to sell 400 t of low-grade tantalum concentrate from Bald Hill between April and July this year, under a one-off sales contract to Global Advanced Metals Greenbushes.
“Tawana and Alliance are pleased to have finalised the initial sales for its Bald Hill tantalite concentrate stockpiles with two of the world’s leading suppliers of tantalum products,” said Tawana MD Mark Calderwood.
“Tantalum pricing has been relatively strong in 2018 and we are encouraged by the level of interest in high quality tantalum concentrates with low levels of deleterious elements.”
Calderwood said that details of the pricing has been kept confidential at the request of the purchasers, but noted that the premium concentrates from Bald Hill commanded prices “well in excess” of those previously budgeted.
Commercial production at the Bald Hill operation was declared in August, and the JV partners are aiming to produce between 60 000 t and 75 000 t of spodumene concentrate between July and December.