West Australian mineral sands miner Image Resources has achieved a critical step towards the accelerated transition of its North Perth Basin operations from the declining Boonanarring mine with the grant of a mining lease for its 100%-owned Atlas project.
It follows the execution of a native title agreement over the proposed Atlas mining area 165km N of Perth in March.
Image has brought forward plans to relocate mining and ore processing equipment and infrastructure to Atlas as early as the Dec 2022 qtr after intensive exploration programs failed to come up with new ore reserves for its 2-year-old Boonanarring operation.
Atlas holds current ore reserves of 9.5Mt @ 8.1% total heavy minerals. Image is continuing to assess potential expansion, including the reserves that may be available for trucking or pumping from its nearby Helene and Hyperion deposits.