102 Million Tonnes Inaugural Dredge Mining Mineral Resources Estimate For Bidaminna Mineral Sands Project

     Highlights:

• 102 million tonnes at 2.2% total heavy minerals (“HM”)
• High-value mineral assemblage (as % of HM) with:
  • 36% leucoxene (70-95% TiO₂)
  • 5% zircon (premium grade)
  • 4% rutile (95% TiO₂) and
  • 48% ilmenite (50-70% TiO₂)
• 93% valuable heavy mineral (VHM) assemblage in HM
• Very low slimes (3.3%) and oversize (2.2%)
• Low strip ratio
• Mineralisation below water table and amenable to lower-cost dredge mining
• High TiO₂ recoveries of 92% in wet process and 99% in dry separation

Register Interest

Image Resources NL (ASX: IMA) (“Image” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce an inaugural dredge mining Mineral Resources estimate for the Company’s Bidaminna Minerals Sand Project located 100 km north of Perth in the North Perth Basin.

Optiro Pty Ltd (“Optiro”) has completed an inaugural dredge mining Mineral Resource estimate for Bidaminna that has been classified and reported in accordance with the guidelines of the JORC Code (2012). When compared to the 1992 historic Mineral Resource estimate for Bidaminna as a dry mining prospect, the total tonnes of Mineral Resources have more than doubled from 44.6 million to 102 million tonnes, with substantially increased higher-value leucoxene and rutile content, albeit at lower total HM grade as detailed below.

A summary of the Mineral Resource estimate by Optiro for the Bidaminna deposit as at 12 March 2021, reported at a cut-off grade of 0.5% total HM as a dredge mining prospect, is presented in Table 1. The previously reported historic Mineral Resources estimate as a dry mining prospect, at a cut-off grade of 2.0% total HM is shown in Table 2. Optiro’s executive summary is presented in Schedule 1.

The interpreted strandline mineralisation for this Mineral Resources estimate covers a strike length of 9.5 km, with mineralisation open to the north (refer Figure 1). Currently identified mineralisation consists of two strandlines, stacked one on top of the other. The upper strandline ranges in width from 90 to 345 metres and has an average thickness of 11.7 metres. The lower strandline ranges in width from 150 to 650 metres and has an average thickness of 9.1 metres. Depth of mineralisation ranges from as shallow as 12 metres at the top of the upper strandline, to 66 metres at the bottom of the lower strandline. In some areas the two strands converge and in other areas they are separated by low grade or barren inter-burden.

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About Image Resources NL

Image Resources NL (ASX: IMA) is Australian’s newest mineral sands mining company, operating open-cut mining and ore processing facilities at its 100%-owned Boonanarring Mineral Sands Project located 80km north of Perth, in the infrastructure-rich North Perth Basin in Western Australia.

Boonanarring is arguably one of the highest grade, zircon-rich, mineral sands projects in Australia. The project was constructed and commissioned on-time and on-budget in 2018 and production of heavy mineral concentrate ramped-up to exceed name-plate capacity in only the second month of operation (January 2019).

Image has now completed two full years of successful operations (CY2020 and CY2021), with performance meeting or beating market guidance ranges in all categories. NPAT for CY2019 was A$20.8m and A$24.8m for CY 2020. As of February 2021, the Company is debt-free and will be paying an inaugural A$0.02 dividend in April 2021.

The Company is focused on maintaining its strong operational performance while investigating the development of a second operating centre in parallel with current operations. The most likely second operating centre will be at the Company’s Bidaminna project, located 25km northwest of Boonanarring, which is a dredge mining prospect with recently announced Mineral Resources of 102 million tonnes at 2.2% total heavy minerals and a potential mine-life of 10 years.

Register Interest