half-century potential for mineral sand mine, page-2

More in 'The Weekly Advertiser' today by the same reporter,looks like it will be at least the end of the year before BFS and government approvals are finalised. By that time we will probably owe DCM about $80-100m. Hopefully there will be something left for us once that debt is paid.

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By DEAN LAWSON

The growth of Chinese urbanisation has provided the market stimulus for mining firm Australian Zircon to pursue mineral sands at a WIM 150 site south-east of Horsham.

Australian Zircon chief executive Marty Adams said people moving from rural to urban areas in China had dramatically increased the demand for ceramic products such as tiles. This in turn had led to a major increase in demand for zircon.

“In terms of commodities, when Rio Tinto was working the WIM 150 site it was chasing titanium products and zircon was not as prominent. Demand has flipped and now zircon commands probably five or six times the price of titanium,” he said.

“It’s driven by growth in China and the country’s urbanisation. People are moving into city areas and into apartments needing bathrooms and kitchens, increasing the need for ceramics. The primary use of zircon products is to create ceramics.”

Australian Zircon plans for the project depend on the results of a far-reaching feasibility study it expects by the end of this year and various government and departmental approvals.

The study covers a wide range of issues including historic mineral processing challenges at the site, geology, resources, hydrogeology, processing, marketing, the environmental impact and finance.

“There are technical challenges but there are also pretty good fundamentals in the project,” Mr Adams said.

“The size of the ore body and the market forecast for mineral sands certainly favour a positive outcome.”

Mr Adams said the WIM 150 deposit covered about 3000 hectares and a mining area might include 300 hectares that would be subject to a ‘moving hole’ process.

“It’s not like some other mines where there is a huge open pit. It’s more about moving in, extracting the material and then rehabilitating the area before moving on. The beauty of mineral sands mining is that once mining is completed, the land is again available for agriculture,” he said.
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