Thunderbird mine hit by port disruption
Mineral sands producer Sheffield Resources’ Thunderbird project in Western Australia’s Kimberley region has been caught up in an equipment failure at the Port of Broome, delaying the shipment of concentrate.
The company reported on Tuesday that a crane malfunction at the Kimberley Port Authority on Sunday forced a temporary halt to loading operations, impacting exports from the jointly owned Kimberley Mineral Sands (KMS) venture.
“Product shipments and sales have been impacted by the temporary suspension at the Port of Broome,” the company said in an update to the ASX, noting a deferral of about 41 000 t of concentrate originally slated for export in the final days of the June quarter.
KMS expects loading operations to resume “in the coming days” once the crane is repaired.
Meanwhile, operational performance at Thunderbird remained strong in the June quarter. Sheffield reported the mining of about 2.8-million tonnes of ore during the period, including a record one-million tonnes in June alone.
The surge was driven by the successful transition of contracted waste mining activities, the company said. Production for the quarter included about 150 000 t of ilmenite concentrate and 40 000 t of zircon concentrate.
Owing to the port disruption, total shipments for the quarter came in lower than expected at about 201 000 t, comprising 162 000 t of ilmenite and 38 000 t of zircon.
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