PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mineral sands miner Iluka has reported an 8.8% increase in net profits after tax for the half-year ended June, compared with the previous corresponding period, on the back of higher sales prices and increased royalty revenues.

Net profit after tax for the six months to June reached A$137.2-million, up from the A$126.1-million achieved in the first half of 2018.

However, mineral sands revenue for the same period declined by 10.1%, to A$545.6-million, on the back of reduced zircon sales, with underlying mineral sands earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization also declining by 6.7% to A$232.7-million.

“Today’s results reflect a mix of factors. While overall profit has increased, the global economic and political environment are headwinds as we move forward in 2019,” said MD Tom O’Leary.

“These external factors impacted sentiment for zircon end customers such that our sales in this market were lower than expected in the first half. Conversely, we see strong conditions in high grade titanium markets and are fully sold with strong ongoing customer enquiries.

“Average prices for all our products are well up on this time last year, and we believe our pricing strategy is contributing to some stability in the market.”

O’Leary noted that operationally, Iluka delivered the Cataby mine development on time and budget, while the Jacinth-Ambrosia operation continued to operate at capacity. The move from Jacinth to Ambrosia was also completed during the half-year, while the synthetic rutile kiln in the South West that underwent a planned major maintenance outage was returned to full capacity.

“At Sierra Rutile, our Gangama operation is running in line with expectations and the expansion project has been commissioned. Disappointingly, the market is aware the Lanti operation continues to experience issues with run time and throughput. We continue to implement a range of measures to ensure we see improvements in the period ahead.”