Ann: Thunderbird Mineral Sands Project Update, page-12

And you think that makes it a better because the mine life is longer?

The ilmenite at Thunderbird is very low grade and I would be surprised if they got $100t - if anything. It would need a lot of work. There are some huge undeveloped ilmenite deposits in Africa like WTR's and some big ones coming online now, BSE and MDL (that's just asx listed companies).The Thunderbird zircon would more than likely be premium though.

But a huge problem is the operating costs in Australia compared to Africa, Indonesia, Phillipines and some of the eastern countries in Europe. Iluka have plenty of land in Australia, but they know the key is opex and thats why they are looking at Mozambique, Sri Lanka and Brazil.

I ask myself this question about Thunderbird.
Who is going to stump up the $300m capex?
I use to think the chinese might, but with the big african projects coming online, why would they come here? There isnt a shortage of Ilmenite, so why would they want low grade ore when they can get their hands on better quality?

I'll be backing Iluka 5 years from now.