Sheffield Resources Limited reported that the Thunderbird Mineral Sands Project is nearing completion, that service area commissioning has begun, and that plant commissioning would begin within the current September quarter.
The Wet Concentrate Plant and the Concentrate Upgrade Plant are nearly finished. The borefields, water, and flocculant services are now being commissioned with the air services. The earthworks for the tailings storage facility are finished, and water is successfully piped from the borefields to the stormwater storage pond.
Waste mining activities are developing smoothly, ahead of the mining contractor Piacentini & Son’s anticipated mobilisation this quarter. Construction of the Dry Mining Unit (DMU) by Piacentini & Son’s Dry Mining Unit (DMU) is well underway, with mobilisation and site assembly anticipated for late this quarter. The start of ore mining and sequential commissioning of the DMU and process plant is envisaged in the December quarter, with the first customer shipping scheduled for Q1 2024.
Recently, Executive Chair Bruce Giffin was given a tour of joint venture partner Yansteel’s operations in China. This included a visit to the facilities where Yansteel would process the Thunderbird magnetic concentrate product and extract high grade ilmenite for further processing into titanium slag and, eventually, chloride pigment.
“We’re excited by the commencement of commissioning activities at Thunderbird. The Kimberley Mineral Sands team and their contractors have done an excellent job with construction, maintaining expenditures within the planned funding envelope $484m, which is a superb achievement. With commissioning now underway, we look forward to the forecast first shipment of product in Q1 2024,” Griffin said.
