South Africa’s Exxaro Resources Ltd has approved the development of its Fairbreeze mineral sands project to replace its existing Hillendale mine in KwaZulu-Natal province, which is coming to the end of its mine life.
Exxaro confirmed to IM plans to start construction at the site 100km north of Durban during the second quarter of 2011, with commissioning expected in the third quarter of 2013.
The Fairbreeze project was shelved in 2009 during a downturn in the minsands market, but a rapid escalation in prices has led the group to commit an investment of 2.4bn rand ($345m.) to complete the mine.
Fairbreeze has a planned capacity of 500,000 tpa of the titanium dioxide (TiO2) feedstock mineral ilmenite and 60,000 tpa of zircon, a mineral used in the...