PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Image Resources has received the first revenue from its Boonanarring mineral sands project, in Western Australia, after loading its first bulk shipment of 10 000 t of heavy mineral concentrate.
The concentrate will be shipped to China as part of an offtake agreement with Shantou Natford Zirconium and Titanium.
Image said on Tuesday that following on from the successful completion of wet commissioning of the heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) production facilities at the end of November, the Boonanarring project had produced sufficient concentrate during the production ramp-up period in December to allow for the 10 000 t shipment.
Ore processing rates in early January continued to exceed ramp-up period budgeted rates, with HMC inventory levels beginning to build for a second shipment, which is currently scheduled for mid-February.
Image said that the company remained committed to seeing the project become cash flow positive by the end of the first quarter of 2019.
The Boonanarring deposit is expected to deliver 1.1-million tonnes of HMC and the Atlas deposit an additional 711 000 t. The Boonanarring deposit is estimated to have an initial mine life of five years, after which mining will move to the Atlas deposit, which will add a further three years to the overall mine life.