Perth, May 8, 2008 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Image Resources (ASX:IMA)(PINK:IMREF) Announce 6.4 Million Tonnes Of Heavy Minerals with Indicated and Inferred Resources in an initial 7 deposits total 260Mt @ 2.4%HM (heavy minerals), containing 6.4Mt of HM.
The resources defined so far contain a total of:
- 340,000 tonnes of leucoxene and rutile
- 4,500,000 tonnes of ilmenite
- 545,000 tonnes of zircon
- 390,000 tonnes of garnet
A high valuable heavy mineral content of 87%.
The resources outlined to date are contained within 60km of ground magnetic targets, comprising only 20% of the 300km of magnetic targets defined so far. The remaining 247 km of targets have yet to be drilled and some 68% of the project area remains to be surveyed, indicating a high probability of further significant discoveries increasing the resource base.
25% of the contained heavy minerals occur in shallow high grade deposits amenable to dry mining with the balance occurring in deeper, lower grade deposits which appear to be suitable for low cost dredging.
Most of the ilmenite is the high Ti variety and likely to be suitable for chloride-route processing and synthetic rutile production.
The heavy mineral assemblage is low in radioactive minerals and well below normal transport limits.
RESOURCE SUMMARY
The initial global heavy mineral resource estimate for Image Resources' North Perth Basin project currently stand at 260 million tonnes @ 2.4% HM containing 6.4 million tonnes of heavy minerals. The resources comprise Indicated and Inferred Resources (JORC standard), which are divided into two groups as shown in Table 1: those shallow deposits amenable to dry mining and those more suited to dredging. Heavy mineral dredging operations typically apply a cut off grade of less than 1% HM, reflecting the bulk mining and lower unit operating costs compared to dry mining. The estimates use a 1% HM cut off grade for the dredge resources and a 2.5% HM cut off for the shallow (dry mining) resources.
Table 1North Perth Basin Resource Summary - May 2008Shallow Indicated Resources - 2.5% HM Cut off----------------------------------------------Resource Tonnes % HM HM Tonnes Overburden Ratio----------------------------------------------Atlas 1,900,000 4.7 90,000 3.4Telesto 1,900,000 5.8 110,000 0.6Helene 11,500,000 4.5 520,000 2.2Hyperion 3,700,000 7.8 290,000 1.5Sub - Total 19,000,000 5.3 1,010,000----------------------------------------------Shallow Inferred Resources - 2.5% HM Cut off----------------------------------------------Atlas 9,700,000 5.8 560,000 3.4----------------------------------------------Total Dry 28,700,000 5.5 1,570,000----------------------------------------------Dredge Indicated Resources - 1% HM Cut off----------------------------------------------Titan 21,200,000 1.8 380,000 1.2----------------------------------------------Dredge Inferred Resources - 1% HM Cut off----------------------------------------------Bidaminna 44,600,000 3.0 1,350,000 1.5Titan 115,400,000 1.9 2,210,000 1.0Calypso 51,500,000 1.7 850,000 1.2Sub - Total 211,500,000 2.1 4,410,000----------------------------------------------Total Dredge 232,700,000 2.1 4,790,000----------------------------------------------Grand Total 261,400,000 2.4 6,360,000----------------------------------------------
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About Image Resources NL
Image Resources NL (ASX:IMA) is a mineral sands focused miner and supplier of critical minerals titanium dioxide, zircon and monazite containing rare earth elements for sale into global markets. The Company has a demonstrated track record of successful project development and operations at its Boonanarring project located 80km north of Perth in the infrastructure rich North Perth Basin.
Boonanarring was a high-grade, high-zircon, low capital cost mine development that was constructed on-time and on-budget in CY2018 and then ramped up to name plate capacity in the second month of operation and went on to operate profitably through Q3 2023. Debt for the project was paid off early in February 2021 and the Company paid dividends to shareholders in April 2021 and April 2022.
Image completed critical construction of the Atlas project in January 2025 and started commissioning and achieved first HMC production in February 2025 and will be ramping up production and revenue from Atlas in Q2 CY2025.
Chapter 1 operating strategy for Image involved the transition from advanced explorer to active miner in CY2018, operating a single mine and producing a single product (HMC) sold into a single jurisdiction (China). Chapter 2 strategy (post Atlas) will focus on the Company's growth and sustainability ambitions which includes the operation of multiple mines in parallel, producing multiple products (separating HMC), and selling into a global market.
The Company is also investigating a significant value adding step of upgrading its ilmenite to synthetic rutile using a lower GHG emissions, innovative process which Image has provisionally patented, and aims to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of this novel process in CY2025-26.
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