Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mineral sands miner Base Resources has continued the trend of increasing quarterly production, with the miner reporting a 10% quarter-on-quarter increase in output during the three months to end of September.
Production from the Kwale mineral sands operation, in Kenya, reached 122 355 t during the quarter under review, following the completion of commissioning in the March quarter.
Following the completion of concentrator spiral launder modifications in the June quarter, the tonnage mined improved by 25% during the September quarter, from 1.8-million tonnes to 2.2-million tonnes.
Heavy mineral concentrate production also increased by 22% during the quarter under review, to 172 885 t, while valuable heavy mineral recoveries improved by 3%, to 96%.
Base reported on Wednesday that ilmenite production during the quarter continued above design capacity, with Kwale delivering 100 533 t, while zircon production remained consistent with the 12-month ramp-up to design capacity, with the project producing 5 210 t of zircon.
Rutile production increased by 9% during the quarter under review, to 16 612 t.
Base told shareholders that over the next quarter, the company’s focus would shift to its zircon production, with Base aiming to improve recoveries through final product handling design changes, to allow for better grade control.