Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Base Resources has reported record quarterly rutile and ilmenite production from its Kwale mineral sands project, in Kenya, on the back of increased plant throughput.
Ilmenite production for the September quarter reached 121 821 t, up from 119 340 t in the previous quarter, while rutile production increased from 21 766 t in the June quarter to 22 458 t.
Zircon production for the quarter under review declined from 9 471 t to 9 050 t, reflecting lower average zircon recoveries, which resulted from circuit optimisation modifications undertaken during the quarter.
The modifications were necessitated by the higher mineral separation plant feed-rate and some electrical voltage instability that resulted in repeated stoppages in the wet zircon circuit.
Zircon recoveries are expected to improve in the December quarter.
Meanwhile, sales volumes for the quarter declined across all products, with ilmenite sales dropping from 150 911 t in the June quarter to 139 441 t in the three months to September, while rutile sales were down from 32 454 t to 23 023 t.
Zircon sales volumes for the quarter were also down from 9 590 t to 8 525 t.
Base on Thursday maintained its full-year production guidance for all three of its products, with rutile production expected to reach between 88 000 t and 95 000 t, ilmenite production between 450 000 t and 480 000 t, and zircon production between 35 000 t and 40 000 t.