Apr 3 2019
Melior Resources Inc. recently provided updates for the market in connection to the progress at its Goondicum Ilmenite Project.
Apatite stocks at Goondicum. (Image credit: Melior Resources Inc.)
Commissioning and production ramp-up at Goondicum continued positively through February and March. In February, iIlmenite production was 4,440 tons and in March, 7,860 tons against budget goals of 7,900 tons and 9,320 tons respectively. March’s total is the maximum monthly production so far and illustrative of higher monthly production expected in the future. Apatite production was 444 tons in February and 1,210 tons in March. The production budget was planned over a year ago to offer a truthful guide to the accelerate production at Goondicum to over 10,000 tons of ilmenite a month, upon which, commercial production is estimated to begin. Management is self-assured of realizing these goals by the end of the June quarter 2019. These statistics are primary and dependent on adjustment based on end of month inventory and metallurgical accounting reconciliations.
Cumulative ilmenite production since the beginning of commissioning is 22,740 tons against a budget of 23,720 tons. Apatite production has considerably lagged budget, however, this is currently gradually improving.
During February and March, No Lost Time Incidents were recorded.
The first cargo of Goondicum ilmenite, 17,600 tons intended for China, was effectively shipped in March.
Project commissioning is a time to fine tune processes, maximize efficiencies, and identify areas needing improvement in preparation for commercial production. The Goondicum team has worked diligently to optimize operations and we believe that we are poised to successfully enter commercial production. February production fell short of budget due to the failure of an electrical component as well as a temporary halt in operations to allow the modification of certain aspects of the newly installed circuits. A particular focus of the modifications was to ensure that the plant will be able to consistently produce Goondicum AA specification ilmenite which is a premium, high margin product and considerably enhances the financial performance of the project. This work is delivering positive results with recent ilmenite quality continuing to improve and getting close to the required specification. Most importantly, the project remains on trajectory to becoming cash positive in the June quarter of FY2019.
Mark McCauley, CEO, Melior.
Going forward, details regarding production updates will be provided on a quarterly basis in the Management’s Discussion and Analysis releases.