PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mineral sands miner Base Resources has reported increased ilmenite, rutile and zircon production from its Kwale project, in Kenya, following the successful ramp-up of mining operations post the commissioning of the Kwale Phase 2 optimisation project.
Base on Wednesday reported record rutile production of 24 451 t for the June quarter, compared with the 21 634 t produced in the previous quarter.
Ilmenite production for the same period was up from 111 630 t to 114 773 t, while zircon production was up from 9 166 t to 9 286 t.
Rutile sales for the quarter ended June were consistent with the previous quarter, at 25 635 t, while ilmenite sales were down from 140 665 t to 107 170 t, and zircon sales were down from 9 884 t to 9 007 t.
Base told shareholders that higher rutile and zircon prices, along with significantly lower ilmenite sales volumes during the quarter, resulted in the average revenue per tonne increasing to $376/t, up from the $314/t reported last quarter.
For 2019, Base is forecast to produce between 88 000 t and 93 000 t of rutile, between 420 000 t and 450 000 t of ilmenite, and between 32 000 t and 37 000 t of zircon.