Thunderbird maiden bulk shipment departs Broome

Sheffield Resources’ (ASX: SFX) Kimberley Mineral Sands has completed its maiden bulk shipment of non-magnetic zircon concentrate from its Thunderbird mineral sands mine in WA.

The shipment included 10,000t of non-magnetic zircon concentrate plus an additional 1100t of bagged non-magnetic zircon concentrate has departed the Port of Broome and will be delivered to an existing offtake customer.

Additional bulk shipments of non-magnetic zircon and magnetic ilmenite concentrate and paramagnetic products are scheduled over the coming weeks as production at Thunderbird ramps up towards nameplate capacity.

Sheffield executive chair Bruce Griffin commented on the milestone.

“We are extremely pleased by this landmark bulk shipment achievement and the continued progress and ramp up of the Thunderbird mine,” he said.

“We wish to thank our logistics partners and local Kimberley port authorities in securing this first bulk shipment from the Port of Broome, and we look forward to continued growth in production and product shipments throughout 2024.”

Located in WA’s Kimberley region, Thunderbird is the first significant heavy mineral sand deposit to be discovered in the Canning Basin and is one of the largest and highest-grade mineral sands deposits globally.

It contains valuable heavy minerals including ilmenite, anatase, zircon, rutile and leucoxene.

Stage one and two of operations is estimated to produce 1.4mtpa of zircon and ilmenite concentrates over a 36-year life of mine.