Donald

The Donald minerals sands project, that is located 300 kilometres north west of Melbourne in Victoria's Murray Basin Region, is host to a zircon deposit valued over $2.1 billion. One of the top five zircon deposits in the world.

Donald Orebody Discovered by CRA

The zircon depost at Donald was discovered, and initially owned, by CRA

Limited which became part of Rio Tinto. Current owner Astron Limited acquired it from Zirtanium in 2004.

The Donald Zircon project is a world class mineral sands deposit that is to be mined by means of a conventional open cut method with a life of mine of 31 years. Once mined, the mineral sand will be processed on-site via a mineral separation facility for the purposes of separating the various minerals such as leucoxene, ilmenite and rutile as well as zircon.

Donald Mineral Sands Project Located Near Existing Rail and Road Infrastructure

The Donald mineral sands project is situated near already existing infrastructure such as road and rail that is able to transport the product to existing ports on the coast. Much of the product produced at the on site mineral separation facility at Donald will be made using technical processes that have been developed by Astron Limited in China.

Mining at the Donald Mineral Sands Project Will be Undertaken by Means of Open Cut

The first stage of mining to be undertaken at the Donald mineral sands operation will be a single open cut pit using excavators and trucks operated by a contract mining company that will be awarded an initial six year contract. Production will be ramped up to full production by the creation of an additional mining face operating from the southern end of the pit advancing towards the north. Following treatment of the ore at the on-site separator it will be taken to China for further treatment after which it will be sold on the world market, supplying eight percent of the world's zircon requirments and four percent of the world demand for titanium.

Initial production of heavy mineral concentrate from the Donald mineral sand operation will be around 475,000 tonnes of heavy mineral concentrate that will be increased to 950,000 tonnes within four years.

Donald Mineral Sands Production Planned for 2016

Astron Limited is planning on commencing production at the Donald mineral sands open cut mine in the first quarter of 2016. Construction and engineering work on the site is expected to take around two years with the ramp up to full production taking another 21 months.

Mineral sand reserves at the Donald deposit total 461 million tonnes grading at 33.6 percent ilmenite, 19.1 percent zircon, 18.9 percent leucoxene, 7.5 percent rutile and 5.9 percent heavy minerals.

Donald Project Undertaken by Chinese Based Company Astron Limited

Astron Limited is a mineral sands mining organisation that is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). The company has a minerals sands trading operation in Shenyang, China, as well as a zircon and titanium chemical and research business in Yingkou, China. Astron has been involved in the mineral sands business for the last 25 years.