Neometals Western Australia plans 1.2 million tonnes per annum titanium ore mining operation

Production at its Barrambie large titanium-vanadium deposit has moved forward after ASX-listed Neometals started production at a gravity plant in Menzies, Western Australia, producing samples of titanium-rich gravity concentrate for mining evaluation trials.
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The company will produce about 150 tonnes of titanium concentrate and ship it to Chinese titanium slag producer Jiuxing Titanium for commercial-scale trials early next year
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Previously, New Metal had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Jiuxing .
The deal complements an earlier agreement between Neometals and the Institute of Integrated Utilization of Mineral Resources (IMUMR) of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, which will develop a beneficiation process for Neometals' ore at Barrambie.
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The concentrate produced by IMUMR is now being smelted by Jiuxing and other interested parties to produce end products of titanium and vanadium, Neometals said .
The company said it had now extended the Jiuxing MoU to reflect a more conservative and achievable timeline .
The company expects a binding formal acquisition agreement to close later next year .
New Metals is also moving forward with a series of assessments that will culminate in a feasibility study called the Advance of Cost Engineering, which the company says will be completed in the new year .
The AACE study will be used to assess and negotiate proposals for a comprehensive solution for mining and gravity beneficiation operations at Barrambie that would allow material to be exported from Geraldton .
Neometals' Barrambie deposit is about 80km north of sandstone in the Murchison region of Western Australia and about 460km east of the port of Geraldton



















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The attractiveness of this deposit is related to its geographical location, which allows for efficient export capacity due to its well-developed infrastructure
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The Barrambie deposit is a titanium-rich vanadium magnetite body hosted in a set of intrusive mafic rocks .
So far, Neometals' exploration in Barrambie has delivered a huge near-surface resource of 280 million tonnes, comprising 9.
18% titanium oxide and 0.
44% vanadium pentoxide .
The resource could make the deposit one of the largest untapped titanium resources in the world .
Neometals prompted Barrambie's decision to mine earlier this year and had the backing of the WA government to approve a mining proposal for a 1.
2 million tonne-a-year mining operation .
The company is currently building an on-site processing plant .