JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Sierra Leone-based mineral sands producer Sierra Rutile reported on Wednesday that its 2012 full-year rutile and ilmenite production volumes had increased by 39% and 38% year-on-year respectively.

Rutile production for the year amounted to 94 493 t, compared with the 67 916 t produced in 2011, while the 22 008 t of ilmenite produced in 2012 was a considerable increase on the 15 946 t produced the previous year.

Fourth-quarter rutile production amounted to 25 502 t and ilmenite production to 6 378 t.

The company reported that, as observed in the third quarter, prices for the quarter lingered at softer levels than those in the first half of 2012, but these remained at higher levels than historically observed.

The company remained positive about the medium- and long-term demand for its product and expected to see a strengthening of the market during the course of this year.

Sierra Rutile CEO John Sisay said on Wednesday that the fourth quarter had seen several major advancements for the company, including the implementation of its first production expansion.

Construction of the Lanti dry mining plant at its operation in south-west Sierra Leone was completed during the quarter, with first ore successfully processed through the concentrator and the concentrate transferred for onward processing in the mineral separation plant. 

Production ramp-up was continuing.

In addition, Sierra Rutile started detailed engineering work and a project implementation plan on the dry mining of its Gangama deposit project to fast-track its development, which is expected to increase production to 200 000 t/y. 

“We have identified an exceptional new project with the Gangama dry mining that is already low-risk, having recently implemented a similar project at Lanti, but which also has impressive project economics. As such, we enter 2013 in an extremely robust shape and expect similar success for the coming year," said Sisay.