(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors - Australia) MZI Resources (ASX: MZI) will make a fourth shipment of heavy mineral concentrate from increased throughput at its Lethbridge South mine.
The extra shipment from the Tiwi Islands mine will occur in January 2013 and will further boost anticipated total revenues from the operation.
MZI now expects to make total shipments of about 31,000 tonnes of heavy mineral concentrate from Lethbridge South, with total project revenue forecast to be around 10% higher than originally planned.
The company has previously forecast net cash flow of about $20 million from the Lethbridge South operation.
The proceeds will be used to support the development of MZI's flagship Keysbrook Mineral Sands Project in Western Australia, where construction is scheduled for early 2013.
A third Lethbridge South shipment of around 8,500 tonnes is scheduled for early-to-mid November.
MZI achieved US$14 million in sales revenue from its second shipment of 9,822 tonnes of heavy mineral concentrate, which was sold to China's largest mineral sands processor, Tricoastal Minerals (Holdings) Company, in August 2012.
The company commenced production at Lethbridge South earlier this year based on a Probable Reserve of 1.16 million tonnes at 2.47% for 28,660 tonnes of contained heavy minerals.
Mineral sands price outlook
The long term outlook for mineral sand commodities, including zircon and rutile, remains strong with the sector seeing significant appreciation in pricing since 2010.
Prices are forecast to remain at record highs for some time compared to the long-term historical price, with prices set to remain in a solid trading band rather than continuing to spike, as has been the case in the past couple of years.
Mineral Sands are predominantly used in household goods items, such as ceramics, paints, tiles, plastics and inks.
Demand for household goods continues to increase as developing countries continue to transform and the wealth of the individuals in those countries increases.
Keysbrook and Kilimiraka
The Keysbrook Feasibility Study is due to be released over the next few weeks.
Site construction is scheduled to begin in early 2013 and first production is targeted for late 2013.
The Keysbrook project will make MZI one of the world's largest annual producers of leucoxene, an important feedstock for TiO2 production.
Based on previous Scoping Studies Keysbrook will have a mine life of more than eight years and is expected to generate more than $700 million in revenue over the life of the project.
The Keysbrook Project is forecast to produce about 20,000 tonnes of zircon concentrate and 60,000 tonnes of leucoxene annually.
Importantly, there is significant potential to grow MZI's long-term mineral sands production through the development of the Kilimiraka deposit in the Tiwi Islands, which also has the potential to become a long-life mine.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.