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MINERAL COMMODITIES LTD — Capital/Financing Update 2014
Apr 3, 2014
65371_rns_2014-04-03_09032d0f-b6b1-40cb-b26a-2aa1eac9b3ab.pdf
Capital/Financing Update
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Mineral Commodities Ltd ACN 008 478 653 ABN 39 008 478 653
40 Murray Road North Welshpool WA 6106, Australia PO Box 235, Welshpool DC WA 6986, Australia Telephone: 61 8 6253 1100 Facsimile: 61 8 9258 3601 Email: [email protected] Web: www.mineralcommodities.com
TORMIN MINERAL SANDS PROJECT - UPDATE SUCCESSFUL PRODUCTION & COMMISSIONING & RAMP UP
Mineral Commodities Limited (ASX:MRC) provides the following update of the successful commissioning and ramp up of its ultra-high grade Tormin Mineral Sands Project on the west coast of South Africa, 400km north of Cape Town.
Production commenced in early January and for the three months to 31 March 2014, the 1.2 Mtpa Tormin process plant produced 7,545 tonnes of zircon/rutile concentrates in line with the Company’s plans to be at a rate of 48,000 tpa of zircon/rutile by the second quarter of 2014.
In late January the company began its first shipments and sales of zircon/rutile to its offtake partner Wogen. MRC has also delivered 2,615 tonnes of garnet concentrate to Blastrite under the terms of an offtake agreement and MRC has recently commenced with the delivery of 15,000 tonnes of stockpiled ilmenite concentrate to Tronox Namakwa Sands processing facility for a trial campaign.
On 21 March 2014, the project was officially opened by the Minister of Mineral Resources, the Honorable Susan Shabangu.
Total sales (of all products) for the quarter was 25,160 tonnes. A more comprehensive production and sales update will provided in the Company’s quarterly report in coming weeks.
Since the commencement of the mining operations in the last quarter of 2013, the Company has mined and delivered 151,638 tonnes to its ROM stockpile, of which 88,138 tonnes occurred in the last two months. By the end of the quarter, the ROM stockpile totaled 76,583 tonnes which equates to approximately 6 weeks of processing feedstock for the primary concentration plant.
The Company estimates that of the approximate 150,000 tonnes mined, 99% of the beach has been replenished through normal tidal movements. As previously announced, the Company continues its work on the replenishment studies to determine the dynamics of the grade and quantum timing of the mineral sands redeposit. The Company has also scheduled a drilling program to redefine the existing resource and to test the extent of the known mineralization that exists in the offshore prospecting zone which has recently been confirmed by an aeromagnetic survey. The program, which will be subject to prevailing weather, will be accelerated upon sourcing a working capital facility.
Mineral Commodities CEO Andrew Lashbrooke commented; “It is still early days but with the successful Tormin startup we can now focus on three important initiatives; (1) growing the Tormin resource base or potential with results of the recent magnetic survey due in April or May, (2) finalizing a working capital debt facility now that the operation has graduated successfully to an operational phase, which will provide the means for management to accelerate its work on the resource enhancement , and (3) finalizing our expansion initiatives which could include expansion of existing non-magnetic processing facilities and or downstream magnetic separation processing (MSP) for the production of finished zircon, rutile and ilmenite.’
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For enquiries regarding this report please contact: Andrew Lashbrooke - Chief Executive Officer +27 21 4171700
Media Enquiries Simon Jemison – Collins Street Media +61 3 9224 5319
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