The company on Thursday said that the offtake agreement with Chilches Materials covered some 7 000 t/y of premium zircon product for the first five years of production at Coburn.

With the other offtake agreements in place, some 72% of the forecast revenue expected from Coburn has now been secured, with the existing agreements having a combined value of around $475-million over five years.

The remaining project revenue will be sourced from the balance of finished zircon and rutile product, with offtake agreements for these advancing well, Strandline told shareholders.

Located 240 km north of Geraldton, the Coburn project has ore reserves of 523-million tonnes and an initial mine life of 22.5 years at a planned average mining rate of 23.4-million tonnes a year.

Products from the development will be used globally in items including ceramic tiles, refractory, paint, titanium metal and welding rod applications. First production is expected within 18 months of the start of project construction.