Name and Location
Keysbrook mineral sands project, Australia.

Client
MZI Resources.

Project Description
A feasibility study completed on the Keysbrook project, in Western Australia, has shown very strong economics.

The project comprises heavy mineral sands contained in degraded dunes within the Bassendean formation and is characterised by its high leucoxene content. Once in operation, it will be one of the world’s largest producers of premium leucoxene 88 product.

The project will entail the development of an estimated 4.5-million-dry-ton-a-year sand-mining operation using an excavator and truck method. The orebody is at surface and averages 2.2 m in thickness across a total mining area of about 12 km2.

A wet excavation plant, located on site, will process the ore using gravity separation to produce, on average, about 110 000 t/y of dry heavy metal concentrate (HMC), grading 85% heavy minerals.

HMC will be transported by road to Picton, 120 km south of the mine site, where it will be processed through a secondary mineral separation plant. The toll treating process will produce three products – leucoxene 70 (L70), containing 70% titanium dioxide; leucoxene 88 (L88), containing 88% titanium dioxide and zircon concentrate, consisting of 56% zircon, 3% L70 and 11% L88.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Value
MZI Resources secured $64-million in debt facilities for the Keysbrook project in May 2014.

Duration
The project achieved first production in October 2015 and achieved nameplate capacity in December.

Latest Developments
MZI has shipped its first leucoxene product from its Keysbrook project.

The shipment of 6 825 t of leucoxene is bound for offtake customer Chemours in the US.

The first shipment represents Keysbrook’s arrival as the single-biggest producer of high-value leucoxene in the world, as the company continues to ramp up cash flow generation and build value for shareholders through high-margin product sales.

Leucoxene is expected to account for nearly 70% of yearly sales from Keysbrook.

Nearly 73% of all production planned for 2016 is currently committed under a five-year offtake agreement, comprising 100% of zircon concentrate and about 65% of all leucoxene products.

To date, MZI has shipped more than 3 800 t of zircon concentrate to Chinese offtake customers under a five-year offtake agreement for zircon concentrate produced at Keysbrook.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
GR Engineering Services (EPC).

On Budget and on Time?
The Keysbrook project is two-thirds complete and continues to progress on budget and on schedule.

Contact Details for Project Information
Read Corporate on behalf of MZI, Paul Armstrong, tel +61 8 9388 1474, fax +61 8 9388 1472 or email info@readcorporate.com.au.
GR Engineering Services, tel +61 8 6272 6000, fax +61 8 6272 6001 or email gres@gres.com.au.