PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Construction of the Thunderbird mineral sands project, in Western Australia, is now 85% complete, with the project on track for first delivery of mineral sands product by the first quarter of next year.
ASX-listed Sheffield Resources on Wednesday told shareholders that construction at the wet concentrate plant and the concentrate upgrade plant was progressing to schedule, with the tailings storage facility and adjacent stormwater storage pond scheduled for completion this quarter.
“We are very pleased by the continued progress at Thunderbird, with construction now 85% complete, and KMS remains well positioned to complete the project within the current available funding of A$484-million,” said Sheffield executive chairperson Bruce Griffin.
“Our operational readiness team has successfully recruited key personnel ahead of our scheduled commissioning later this year with forecast first shipment of product in the first quarter of 2024.”
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.