Sheffield gains on Thunderbird progress

Sheffield Resources shares rose slightly on Monday, following news that quarterly construction and production activities at the Thunderbird mineral sands project in Western Australia's West Kimberley region had finished on time and on budget. 

The mineral sands aspirant last traded at 54 cents per share, up 3 per cent, as of 2.39pm AEST.

Thunderbird, a mineral sands project worth $484 million, is owned and operated by Kimberley Mineral Sands, a 50:50 joint venture between Sheffield and China-based Yansteel. 

Despite reported power outages and pump equipment failures, 740,593 tonnes of ore were mined up to December 31 2023 at the site, at an average heavy mineral ore mined grade of 13.3 per cent.

Additionally, total saleable concentrate production reached 34,349t, which was comprised of magnetic, non-magnetic and paramagnetic concentrate. Both figures were derived from a parial operational quarter. 

Sheffield also told the market it would provide Kimberley Mineral Sands' quarterly and financial performance data following the completion of its first full quarter in March. 

Earlier this month, KMS announced it had completed its inaugural export of product from Thunderbird, shipping 300 million tonnes of bagged zircon non-magnetic concentrate from Port Hedland to China, with shipment revenue arriving at the end of January.