Strandline Resources has achieved commercial production of Heavy Mineral Concentrate (HMC) at its Coburn mineral sands project in Western Australia.
Ore commissioning of the in-pit mining units, wet concentrator plant (WCP) and associated circuits is well underway, with saleable HMC product being produced and stockpile inventories growing.
As part of the commissioning process, tuning of WCP sequences, equipment settings and instrument control loops is continuing, as is managing plant punch list items and defects as they arise.
Haulage of HMC product to storage facilities at the Port of Geraldton is expected to commence next week, with preparations underway to co-ordinate the first shipment of HMC next month.
The company is now focused on increasing production throughput towards design rates, improving plant availability and optimising product recoveries and specification.
While ramp-up of the WCP continues, construction teams remain focused on finalising the downstream Mineral Separation Plant (MSP) and remaining support infrastructure.
Strandline expects to sell several shipments of HMC produced from the WCP while construction of the MSP is being completed.
Strandline managing director Luke Graham said ore commissioning was now well underway, as shown by the growing stockpile of product ahead of our first shipment.
“Sales of HMC will generate strong cashflow for Strandline while we complete construction of the MSP, which will in turn drive further increases in cashflow,” he said.