Wim 150

The WIM 150 mineral sands project is being developed by Australian Zircon NL. The project is located about 20 kilometres south east of Horsham in the Wimmera Region of north western Victoria.

WIM 150 Project to Process 10 Million Tonnes of Ore Annually

The WIM 150 project is planned to produce 10 million tonnes of mineral sand ore a year that is expected to return a total of 675,000 tonnes of heavy
mineral concentrate annually. This concentrate is expected to contain 85,000 tonnes of zircon, 80,000 tonnes of ilmentite, 15,000 tonnes of monazite and 10,500 tonnes of rutile and leucoxene (HiTi).

WIM 150 to be an Open cut Mining Operation

Mining at the WIM 150 site will be carried out using conventional open cut methods, with the use of excavators, bulldozers, scrapers, front end loaders and haulage trucks. The topsoil will be first stripped and stored before sub-soil is removed, followed by the stripping away of the general overburden, to expose the highly mineralised sand ore base.

WIM 150 to Produce its own Concentrate Products

Once the mineral sand ore is removed it is to be taken to a relocatable mining unit plant to be screened and made into a slurry. The slurry produced at this plant will then be pumped to a wet concentrator facility. In the concentrator the ore will be separated into its various components that consist of sand, clay-silt and heavy minerals. The heavy mineral concentrate will then proceed to a mineral separation plant to be processed into its final products.

WIM 150 Mine Tailings to be Returned to Mine Site to Assist in Re- habilitation
The final concentrate products will then be transported from the project site to the ports at either Portland, Melbourne, or Geelong, for exporting to their final destinations for further processing. The mine tailings that result from the mineral sands ore processing operation will be returned to the void created by the mining activity to assist in the rehabilitation of the area where the overburden, sub-soil and top soil is ultimately returned.

Land rehabilitation at the WIM 150 project site will be progressively carried out and completed as soon as possible after a specific area has been mined. This is expected to take place within 12 or 18 months after mining has been completed in that area. Rehabilitation is to be carried out to such a standard that re-instatement will re-create the original pre-mining land forms, including vegetation, so that previously approved land use can be resumed such as agricultural and native vegetation uses.
Road access to the WIM 150 mineral sands project site will be upgraded from the the Western Highway along with the construction of all necessary infrastructure. Mine access roads will be used by construction personell as well as operational staff, contractors, truck drivers and delivery persons. Power to the site is to be supplied by the national power grid and all water requirements will be met from the Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water (GWMW) source.

The construction phase of the WIM 150 mineral sands project will employ an average of around 200 people with the demand peaking at 350. The mining operation itself is expected to create 125 permanent positions at the processing plant along with around 125 contractors. The mine will operate 24 hours a day seven days a week with two 12 hour shifts.

The WIM 150 mineral resource stands at JORC classified 1,650 million
tonnes, grading at 3.7 percent of heavy minerals, that is in turn made up of 31.4 percent ilmenite, 20.7 percent zircon, 11.7 percent rutile, six percent leucoxene, 2.1 percent monazite and 0.38 percent xenotime.
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