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 increased the ore reserve estimate of its Keysbrook project by 277%, extending the mine life of the project nearly three-fold from five-and-a-half years to nearly 16 years.

The total ore reserves at the Keysbrook project have increased to 72-million tonnes, grading 2.2% total heavy minerals, with the ore reserve comprising high-value leucoxene and zircon products.

MZI is hoping to further extend the mine life of Keysbrook through converting additional mineral resource and through further exploration drilling.

The Keysbrook project achieved nameplate throughput capacity in December last year, with the mine tipped to deliver 96 000 t/y of leucoxene and zircon products.

The project shipped its first zircon product in December last year and its first leucoxene product in March.

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.