PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed mineral sands miner Mineral Deposits Limited (MDL) has produced 11 463 t of ilmenite from its 50%-held Grande Côte project, in Senegal, during its first full quarter of production.
Construction at Grande Côte was completed in the March quarter, and mining at the project started late in March. Processing through the mineral separation plant started in June.
MDL said on Monday that the ilmenite load-out facility at the mineral separation plant was now fully operational, and ilmenite was regularly being dispatched by rail to the Dakar port storage shed.
The first ilmenite shipment was expected to take place in September.
Grande Côte was anticipated to produce, on average, about 85 000 t/y of zircon and 575 000 t/y of ilmenite when in full production, making it the largest new mineral sands project currently under construction. The project would have an initial mine life of 20 years.