PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The board of mineral sands developer MZI Resources on Thursday confirmed a final investment decision on the Keysbrook project, in Western Australia, following the completion of all funding conditions.
Company chairperson Mal Randall said that having satisfied all conditions precedent to access corporate and project level funding, MZI had started a drawdown of funds, and would be providing commencement notices to its contractors and stakeholders.
“This marks an exciting point in what has been a long process,” Randall said.
The Keysbrook project would require a capital investment of A$61.9-million and was slated to produce 91 000 t/y of product from 110 000 t/y of dry heavy mineral concentrate, over a five-and-a-half-year mine life. The project development was likely to take about 12 months, and first production was planned for the December quarter of 2015.
“Mobilisation to site will start early next year with preliminary works entailing further detailed engineering and equipment procurement to commence immediately,” said CEO Trevor Matthews.
“The fact that we are now commencing development is a testament to the quality of the project and we look forward to building MZI into a significant mineral sands producer.”