The maiden bulk shipment of about 10 000 metric tonnes of nonmagnetic (zircon) concentrate from the Thunderbird mineral sands mine, in Western Australia, has departed the Port of Broome.
The shipment, which also included an additional 1 100 metric tonnes of bagged zircon concentrate, will be delivered to an existing offtake customer.
Sheffield Resources reports that further bulk shipments of zircon, magnetite (ilmenite) concentrate and paramagnetic (leucoxene) products are scheduled over the coming weeks as Thunderbird continues to ramp up towards nameplate capacity.
Sheffield owns 50% of Kimberley Mineral Sands, the owner of Thunderbird, which started operating in October last year.