PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mineral sands miner Strandline Resources is poised for the first 15 000 t of zircon in concentrate shipment from its Coburn mineral sands project, in Western Australia, later this month.
A second shipment of a minimum of 5 000 t of chloride ilmenite is also scheduled for this month.
Strandline told shareholders on Thursday that modifications to the wet concentrator plant (WCP) had been completed, which had resulted in significant improvements in production quality.
“The recent WCP modification work has resulted in a significant improvement in separation efficiency into the valuable critical minerals, a great example of what the team has been able to achieve,” said MD Jozsef Patarica.
“Our focus remains on maximising revenue from the products being produced while continuing to optimise the mineral separation plant to produce premium grade zircon and rutile. The achievement of our first zircon-in-concentrate sale marks a key milestone in this process as we work to optimise the operation at the same time as increasing volumes.”
The improvement initiatives include improving sand tailings deposition and rectification of mineral separation plant issues including dust extraction, dryer-heater controls, as well as conditioning of the heavy minerals concentrate. The mineral separation plant is designed to separate the heavy mineral concentrate into the valuable critical minerals of zircon, titanium (rutile and ilmenite) as well as a zircon-in-concentrate product.