PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Strandline Resources has inked the final binding offtake agreement for its Coburn mineral sands project, in Western Australia.
The agreement with titanium dioxide producer Venator Materials covers all of the expected rutile production at Coburn, which is expected to generate between 17% and 20% of Coburn’s forecast revenues over five years.
The offtake agreement is subject to conditions precedent regarding the development of the project, and conditions subsequent regarding the supply of rutile to the quality requirements.
“With over 90% of the project’s revenue now underwritten by binding sales contracts with major customers and a significant portion of the development funding secured via the Northern Australian Infrastructure Fund (NAIF) loan, Strandline is on track to become Australia’s next world-scale mineral sands producer,” said Strandline MD Luke Graham.
Located 240 km north of Geraldton, the A$260-million Coburn project has ore reserves of 523-million tonnes and an initial mine life of 22.5 years at a planned average mining rate of 23.4-million tonnes a year.
Products from the development will be used globally in items including ceramic tiles, refractory, paint, titanium metal and welding rod applications. First production is expected within 18 months of the start of project construction.
The NAIF in 2020 approved a A$150-million loan for the development of the Coburn project, which is expected to create 315 jobs during construction and up to 190 jobs during operations.