- Strandline Resources (STA) is set to commence open pit mine development at its Coburn mineral sands project two months ahead of schedule
- The company says construction and preparation activities have been moving rapidly which has accelerated the development work
- The construction of a temporary tailings storage facility is almost finished and pre-strip mining will begin from next week
- Based on the progress, Strandline says it’s on-budget and on track to start producing heavy mineral concentrate in the December 2022 quarter
- STA shares are trading up 0.76 per cent at 33.3 cents at 1:59 pm AEST
Strandline Resources (STA) is set to commence open pit mine development at its Coburn mineral sands project two months ahead of schedule.
The company attributed rapid construction to the acceleration of the open pit mine development at its wholly-owned operation which can be found in WA’s Gascoyne region.
Strandline mobilised a mining contractor in April, construction of a temporary tailings storage facility is almost finished, and pre-strip mining will commence from next week to facilitate the starter pits’ development in July.
Mine development will now run simultaneously with finalising the construction of the processing and supporting infrastructure.
The three dozer mining units have been delivered and assembled on site, ready to be moved into position for mining first ore later this year.
Following detailed mine planning, the company has outlined an enhanced pit design for the first two years of the mine plan, which contains a lower strip ratio and potentially reduced mining costs compared to the assumptions in the Coburn Definitive Feasibility Study.
The strip ratio has reduced from an average of 0.7 to 0.5 over the first two years which is mainly due to optimising and scheduling more ore closer to surface on the eastern side of the deposit.
Due to the advancements, the company said it remains on-budget and on track to start producing heavy mineral concentrate in the December 2022 quarter.
STA shares were trading up 0.76 per cent at 33.3 cents at 1:59 pm AEST.