PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mineral sands miner Base Resources has posted record quarterly rutile production of 23 107 t during the three months to March, up from the 22 870 t produced in the three months to December.
Ilmenite production from the Kwale mineral sands project, in Kenya, reduced to 112 368 t during the quarter, compared with the 116 982 t produced in the previous quarter, while zircon production fell from 2 550 t to 2 474 t.
Base told shareholders on Wednesday that mined tonnage during the quarter reduced from 3.05-million tonnes to 2.66-million tonnes, as a result of a slight curtailment of feed rates, while concentrator efficiencies were being optimised.
Meanwhile, sales volumes for both ilmenite and rutile increased during the quarter under review, with ilmenite sales up from 97 047 t to 122 783 t, and rutile sales volumes up from 19 773 t to 21 416 t.
The sales volumes for zircon declined from 9 432 t to 8 069 t.
Base has maintained the production expectations for the full year at Kwale, with between 450 000 t and 480 000 t of ilmenite expected, between 88 000 t and 93 000 t of rutile, and between 33 000 t and 37 000 t of zircon.