Image Resources has posted another successful quarter of operations at its Boonanarring mineral sands project just 80km north of Perth in WA, despite rising inflation and a tight labour market. The company generated $39 million in revenue and ended the financial quarter with a net cash position of $53.2 million up from $47.9 million last quarter.
Heavy mineral concentrate, or “HMC” production at Boonanarring was up 2 per cent from the previous quarter on the back of higher-than-average recoveries. During the period the company hit the significant milestone of 1 million tonnes of HMC produced at the Boonanarring project.
Notably, its all-in-sustaining-costs were down 13 per cent on previous results principally due to the last quarter’s higher logistical costs. Mining costs at Boonanarring are expected to reduce significantly in 2023 as the majority of pre-stripping will be completed this year.
Image’s continued debt-free performance builds on an impressive set of financials posted for the first half of 2022. In early September the company reported a 39 per cent increase in its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization to $40.6 million up from $29.3 million recorded in the first half of 2021. Equally as impressive, the company tabled $17.9 million in net profit after tax as compared to $2.9 million in the same period in 2021.
Image Resources Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Patrick Mutz said: “Despite the ongoing challenges on a number of fronts, the performance of the Company during the September quarter remained strong.”
The company’s exploration portfolio is primarily focused on mineral sands with the exception of two adjacent exploration licences and two associated prospecting licences with a focus on gold.
This quarter the company executed access and compensation agreements with the land owner over the southern extension at Boonanarring.
Access for mining in the area provides the opportunity for the company to extend mining operations at Boonanarring for a further three to four months and pushes the completion of ore processing into May or June 2023 with final product shipment from Boonanarring now expected to occur in July or August 2023.
The company plans to kick its 100 per cent owned Atlas deposit into production in early 2023 when it expects the Boonanarring project to cease production. Image intends to announce updated economic metrics for Atlas shortly.
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By Matt Birney
