Strandline Resources : Outstanding Test Results Strengthen Coburn Financial Outlook

Strandline Resources (ASX: STA) is pleased to announce more outstanding metallurgical test results which further strengthen the financial outlook, product offtake negotiations and funding strategy for its Coburn mineral sands project in WA's Mid-West.

The latest tests included optimisation to equipment settings and attritioning of the feed material and have further validated that Coburn can efficiently deliver premium-quality mineral sands products using conventional processing technology.

They also demonstrate the scope to further increase recoveries and therefore production of the higher-value zircon and rutile final product streams.

The process enhancements are expected to increase average annual project revenues relative to the Coburn Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) (announced in April-2019) and support current offtake and funding activities.

An updated Coburn financial evaluation is now being undertaken as part of the project financing process.

Strandline Managing Director Luke Graham said the results strengthened Coburn's outlook on several fronts.

'These results show the proposed processing design will deliver increased recoveries and specifications which will in turn pave the way for increased revenue for no increase in capital or operating costs,' Mr Graham said.

Coburn Mineral Sands Project - Confirmatory Test Work Enhances Financial Outlook

'Strandline is now in advanced negotiations with major global consumers for long-term product offtake as part of the project financing process currently underway.

'The ability to produce highly-marketable products across the entire zircon and titanium mineral suite expands Coburn's offtake and funding options.

'The Coburn project is development-ready and set to be a world-scale, long-life operation located in the wellestablished mining jurisdiction of WA, with proximity to key infrastructure.'

SUMMARY OF RESULTS

Exceptional high-quality final mineral sands products have been achieved from the latest confirmatory metallurgical testwork program. A representative bulk heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) sample produced during the DFS wet concentration plant (WCP) testwork was processed through an optimised mineral separation plant (MSP) flowsheet.

The tests were performed at TZMI's Allied Mineral Laboratories and utilised full scale or scalable equipment configured as per the DFS flowsheet design (with no impact to DFS capital or operating cost estimates). Optimisation of equipment settings and attrition scrubbing of the HMC feed material resulted in improved separation efficiencies of valuable minerals and product specifications.

The rutile (HiTi) product stream also benefited from directing more rutile mineral to the underutilised cleaner stages of the MSP, rather than reporting mineral into product earlier in the flowsheet. This resulted in a cleaner, higher TiO2 grade rutile of 93.3% TiO2 (up from 90.1% TiO2) as well as an improved rutile recovery from 70.9% to 84.7%.

The premium zircon product stream benefited from improving separation efficiency at each electrostatic separation stage of the MSP. This resulted in higher zircon recovery from 98.7% to 99.7%. MSP zircon recovery comprises 58.3% into premium zircon and a further 41.4% into zircon concentrate as contained zircon. The increase in pit-to-product recovery rates results in an increase to total average annual production and importantly, an increase to the higher-value premium zircon and rutile streams.

Engagement with leading mineral sands consumers continues in order to secure long-term offtake agreements to support the current project financing process. It remains evident that Coburn's zircon and titanium products are in high market demand for a range of high-end applications including the large ceramics and pigment markets.

Coburn is a world-class long-life mineral sands deposit and benefits from being situated in the well-established mining jurisdiction of Western Australia, close to key road, port and services infrastructure.

The Coburn DFS shows the Project will generate strong financial returns with a pre-tax NPV of A$551m (USD:AUD 0.72, 8% discount rate), an IRR of 32%, Life of Mine (LOM) EBITDA of A$1.9b (average annual EBITDA of A$86 million) and an attractive revenue-to-operating cost ratio of 2.2, based on TZMI's commodity price forecast. For more information on the Coburn Mineral Sand Project and the DFS, refer to the ASX Announcement dated 16 April 2019 for details of the material assumptions underpinning the production target and financial results. The Company confirms that all the material assumptions continue to apply and have not materially changed

The latest testwork results highlight the potential to materially increase project revenues over the life of the mine (38 years) relative to the DFS, further enhancing project returns. An updated financial evaluation will be released in due course as part of the current financing process.

In parallel with negotiating product offtake agreements for Coburn, the Company is advancing major construction and operations contracts and other project financing activities, including the potential debt financing from Northern Australian Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) as announced 09 October 2019.

Product Specification and Marketability

Coburn is capable of producing an extremely high-value product suite comprising a premium zircon product (66% ZrO2), zircon concentrate product (29% ZrO2), rutile/HiTi product (which combines the rutile and leucoxene minerals to produce a 93% TiO2 blend) and chloride-grade ilmenite product (62% TiO2).

ABOUT STRANDLINE

Strandline Resources Limited (ASX: STA) is an emerging heavy mineral sands developer with a growing portfolio of 100%- owned development assets located in Western Australia and within the world's major zircon and titanium producing corridor in South East Africa. Strandline's strategy is to develop and operate high margin, expandable mining assets with market differentiation and global relevance.

Strandline's project portfolio contains high quality assets which offer a range of development options and timelines, geographic diversity and scalability. They include two zircon-titanium rich, 'development ready' projects, being the Fungoni Project in Tanzania and the large Coburn Project in Western Australia, as well as a series of titanium dominated exploration targets spread along the highly prospective Tanzanian coastline, including the advanced and large scale Tajiri Project in northern Tanzania.

Contact:

Luke Graham

Tel: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This report contains certain forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are only predictions and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions which are outside of the control of Strandline. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions include commodity prices, currency fluctuations, economic and financial market conditions, environmental risks and legislative, fiscal or regulatory developments, political risks, project delay, approvals and cost estimates. Actual values, results or events may be materially different to those contained in this announcement. Given these uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place reliance on forward looking statements. Any forward looking statements in this announcement reflect the views of Strandline only at the date of this announcement. Subject to any continuing obligations under applicable laws and ASX Listing Rules, Strandline does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any information or any of the forward looking statements in this announcement to reflect changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which any forward looking statements is based.

(C) 2020 Electronic News Publishing, source ENP Newswire