Yandanooka

Ore Reserves

30 Million Tonnes at 3.9% HM

14% Zircon, 3.3% Rutile,
27% Leucoxene, 46% Ilmenite, 0.2% Monazite

Location

220km NNW of Perth in the historic Eneabba mineral sands mining district

Expected Mine Life

8.2 years

Fast-track development potential in parallel with other Image projects.

Yandanooka is the largest deposit in Image’s Eneabba HMS Project Area and is located 220km NNW of Perth, 50 km northeast of Eneabba and roughly 140 km from the Geraldton Port. It is located in the vicinity of previous and existing mineral sands operations owned by others, as well as a well-connected network of highways and railway lines linking to the Geraldton Port and Fremantle / Kwinana ports.

The company published pre-feasibility study (PFS) results for the 100%-owned Yandanooka project in April 2024. PFS highlights include:

  • Pre-tax NPV8: A$151 million
  • Pre-tax IRR8: 72%
  • Initial Development Capital: A$50.3 million
  • Capital payback (post first revenue): 15 months
  • EBITDA: A$277 million
  • Forecast mine-life: 8.2 years

The Company is fast-tracking the conversion of the PFS to a definitive feasibility study (DFS).

The Yandanooka deposit is shallow with mineralisation from surface and with an average strip ratio of 0.1:1. The deposit is 6.0 km long and up to 2.5 km wide and is amenable to simple dry mining techniques. Mineralisation is between 1 m and 21 m thick, with an average thickness of 7 m. It contains a zone of higher-grade mineralisation (+3% total HM) that extends for 3.5 km and is up to 1.3 km wide. The higher-grade zone is between 1 m and 10 m thick, with an average thickness of 4 m. The Yandanooka deposit has minimal overburden and lies above the water table.

Approvals

The Yandanooka deposit is located freehold farmland. As such, the project has lower level environmental and heritage considerations/impacts and therefore is not subject to referral through Part IV of the Environmental Protection Act (EP Act). Works Approval application will be submitted to the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) concurrently with a Management Plan (MP). All environmental and other necessary approvals are being sought and the company anticipates a shorter overall development timeline that all other projects in the Company’s portfolio.

Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (April 2024)

The current Yandanooka Mineral Resources estimate is 57Mt at 3.1% of total heavy minerals (HM) with mineral assemblage including 14% zircon, 3.4% rutile, 28% leucoxene, and 45% ilmenite in the HM.

Current Ore Reserves are estimated at 30Mt at 3.9% HM with mineral assemblage including 14% zircon, 3.3% rutile, 27% leucoxene and 46% ilmenite in the HM. Initial indications are that the ilmenite is of sufficient quality and TiO2 grade to be suitable as high-quality feedstock for synthetic rutile production.