PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Construction of the Thunderbird mineral sands project, in Western Australia, is now more than 60% complete, with ASX-listed Sheffield Resources remaining on target to deliver first mineral sand products in the first quarter of 2024.
“Construction activities at Thunderbird are on schedule. With all major civil earthworks near completion, our focus in 2023 turns to installation of equipment and major process plant components,” said Sheffield executive chairperson Bruce Griffin.
The two stage Thunderbird development pathway sees the initial Stage 1 mining and processing feed rate forecast at 1 085 t/h at the wet concentrate plant (WCP), with Stage 2 doubling the WCP feed rate to 2 170 t/h targeted during Year 5 of operations.
Stage 1 and 2 of operations is estimated to produce 1.4-million tonne a year of zircon and ilmenite concentrates over an estimated 36 year life of mine.