Name and Location
Barrambie titanium project, Australia.

Client
Reed Resources.

Project Description
The Barrambie project contains total indicated and inferred mineral resources of 47.2-million tonnes at 22.2% titanium TiO₂ dioxide (TiO₂), 0.63% vanadium oxide, and 46.7% iron (III) oxide, at a cutoff grade of 15% TiO₂.

Recently completed testwork at the Barrambie titanium project has confirmed the project’s potential to be a globally significant lowest-quartile-cost titanium dioxide producer.

Reed successfully completed a continuous minipilot scale testwork programme on oxide ore from Barrambie.

The purpose of the 10 kg/d miniplant campaign was to test and demonstrate the successful operation of each of the major unit operations of the proprietary flowsheet on a continuous basis, namely leaching the mineralised material, titanium dioxide precipitation, iron hydrolysis and acid regeneration.

The scoping study completed by Snowden Mining Industry Consultants in December 2013, based on this proprietary process, estimated the average net operating costs of a tonne of titanium dioxide recovered at $1 214/t, with an indicative accuracy of about 35%, potentially placing the project at the low end of the global cost curve.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Value
Not stated.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Following the successful completion of a continuous minipilot scale testwork programme on oxide ore from Barrambie, Reed will start a prefeasibility study (PFS) to assess the technical feasibility and economic viability of the development of a hard-rock titanium mining and processing operation against a set of key commercial parameters.

Sedgman and Snowden Mining Industry Consultants will complete a PFS, which will investigate the construction of a mineral processing facility to treat run-of-mine (RoM) ore from the project.

It is expected that RoM will be crushed and screened at the mine site and then trucked to a processing facility, with a nominal capacity of 200 000 t/y of feed near Geraldton, where high-purity titanium, vanadium and iron compounds will be produced.

Reed has engaged the services of an experienced process/construction engineer and former COO of Minproc, to head the owner’s team managing the study.

The PFS is expected to be completed in the March quarter of 2015.

A key feature of the patented process is the acid recovery and regeneration process, which shows the potential to operate at significantly lower costs than established technologies previously evaluated by Reed.

In addition, the green credentials of the selected process are enhanced by its energy efficiency, low emissions and inert tailings.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Sedgman and Snowden Mining Industry Consultants (PFS).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Reed Resources, tel +61 8 9322 1182 or fax +61 8 9321 0556.
Sedgman, tel +61 8 6255 0000 or email perth@sedgman.com.
Snowden Mining Industry Consultants, tel +61 8 9213 9213, fax +61 8 9322 2576 or email perth@snowdengroup.com.