Mineral Commodities Ltd (ASX:MRC) and its empowerment partner have commenced Total Heavy Mineralsmining at the Western Strandline, adjacent to their existing Tormin mining operations in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
Executive Chairman, Mark Causo, said conventional open pit mining is now underway, accessing mineralisation from near surface with excavators and articulated dump trucks, following completion of topsoil stripping in the southern part of the Section 102 area of the Western Strandline.
As part of a phased development programme, the first pit, located only 600 metres south of the current Tormin processing plant, will initially target near surface, very high-grade strand horizons, which will be hauled to the existing Primary Beach Concentrator/Tailings Separation Plant (PBC/TSP) for primary low-impact crushing.
The Red Aeolian and Orange Feldspathic Sands will be subsequently processed after the installation of a thickener, which is planned to be installed by the end of the December quarter.
Mr Causo said the company is also well advanced for the mobilisation of one of its primary PBC/TSP processing units to the Northern Beaches mining areas. It is intended to commission these operations in Q4 2020, once the Inland Strand mining operations and processing have been commissioned into steady state. “The commencement of mining represents another significant milestone in the rapid development of the Inland Strand,” Mr Causo said.
“Mining has commenced within two months of receipt of the approvals to expand the mining and processing operations at Tormin.”
Almost 22% of the total 106 million tonnes at 12.4% Total Heavy Minerals(THM*)*mineral resource in the Western Strandline is located within the S102 Mining Right area (22.8 million tonnes at 20.9% THM). The majority (85%) of the Mineral Resource that is within the S102 Mining Right is classified as Measured and Indicated.