Strandline’s project portfolio contains high quality assets which offer a range of development options and timelines, geographic diversity, and scalability. They include the world-scale Coburn mineral sands project in Western Australia, currently ramping up into production, and the emerging Tanzanian mineral sands growth projects Fungoni, Tajiri, and Bagamoyo.
Strandline’s exploration and development focuses primarily on discovering and evaluating mineral sands ore bodies that show an abundance of higher value minerals, nominally zircon, rutile and monazite, with the lesser value minerals of ilmenite and garnet as a co-product to the product suite.
Mineral sands are heavy minerals found in sediments on, or near to, the surface of ancient beach, river or dunal system. Strandline’s proposed mineral sands mining method involves both dry mining (Coburn and Fungoni projects) and wet hydraulic mining (Tajiri project). Mining units and wet concentration plant (WCP) separate the heavy valuable minerals (zircon, monazite, rutile, leucoxene, ilmenite) from the waste material. The WCP design utilises multiple stages of high-capacity gravity separation and classification to produce a high grade +90% heavy mineral concentrate (HMC).
Coburn Mineral Sands Project, Western Australia
Coburn is one of the largest and most capital-efficient mineral sands (zircon and titanium rich deposit) projects in the world, with an exceptional zircon-titanium product suite, low costs and ability to generate strong financial returns. It is situated in the well-established mining jurisdiction of Western Australia, close to key infrastructure. The deposit is located 240km north of the major minerals port of Geraldton in Western Australia. The project has key project approvals already in place, including mining and environmental approvals and native title heritage agreements.
Funding for the project was completed in 2021 whereby A$338m was secured, enabling Coburn to be fully-funded through to production and cashflow. A favourable finance structure comprises the combination of long-tenor debt provided by NAIF (A$150m) and a US$60m Bond Issue, together with the Company’s strong cash position.
The Company signed binding product offtake agreements with some of the world’s leading consumers in their respective industries across Europe, America and China. Strandline has secured 100% of Coburn’s forecast revenue under binding sales contracts.
First production of heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) was completed in the December 2022 Quarter and the inaugural HMC shipment of concentrate was completed in the same Quarter.
Tanzania Mineral Sands Projects
Fungoni Mineral Sands Project, Tanzania
Strandline continued to progress its portfolio of high-growth mineral sands assets in Tanzania, advancing government agreement and strategic partner discussions.
The zircon-rich Fungoni Project is the Company’s most advanced Tanzanian based development, with a full DFS completed and final project approvals progressing
The updated Fungoni DFS confirms the project will deliver strong financial returns, has a high unit value product suite, is capital-efficient and demonstrates the strategic potential of the Company’s portfolio of mineral sands assets in Tanzania.
The project is favourably located ~25km from the Dar es Salaam port in a growing commercial/industrial district and will benefit from existing infrastructure in the region.
Fungoni is Strandline’s high-margin “starter” project in Tanzania, which will pave the way for a succession of mineral sands projects along the coastline of Tanzania. Fungoni is ready for construction pending finalisation of project financing and several secondary-level government approvals.
In December 2021, Strandline and the Government of Tanzania (GNT) signed a binding Framework Agreement under which they established a joint venture entity named Nyati Mineral Sands Ltd (Nyati). The Framework Agreement outlines the key joint venture ownership and operating terms for the development of the Fungoni mineral sands project near the port of Dar es Salaam and the Company’s other emerging Tanzanian mineral sands assets, including the titanium dominated, large-scale Tajiri project. Strandline is the operator of Nyati and owns 84%, with the GNT obtaining a 16% non-dilutable free-carried interest in accordance with Tanzanian law.
Tajiri Mineral Sands Project, Tanzania
The Tajiri project comprises a series of higher-grade mineral sands deposits stretching along 30kms of coastline in northern Tanzania, near the port city of Tanga. Strandline released the results of the Engineering Scoping Study in the December quarter 2020 which shows that Tajiri will generate strong financial returns over a long life:
The JORC-compliant Mineral Resource is 268Mt @ 3.3% Total Heavy Minerals (THM), underpinning Strandline’s long-term production outlook in Tanzania. Tajiri Resources are likely to grow further over time with Resources remaining open and analysis of assays from drilling at nearby Sakura produced strong results, with evaluation continuing.
