Thunderbird mineral sands prospect, Kilto Station, Broome Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Thunderbird mineral sands prospect	Prospect
Kilto Station	- not defined -
Broome Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

Located on the Dampier Peninsula, 60 kilometres west of Derby, and 25 kilometres north of the Broome-Derby Highway.

The deposit contains significant zircon, and high grade sulphate ilmenite and more minor leucoxene.

Measured, Indicated and Inferred JORC resource of 3.2 Bt @ 6.9%, (at 3% HM cut-off), including 18.5 Mt zircon, 5.9 Mt titanium leucoxene, 6.9Mt leucoxene, and 61.8 Mt ilmenite. There is an coherent high grade zone at 7.5% cut-off, of 1090 Mt @ 11.9%, including 9.9 Mt zircon, 3.0Mt titanium leucoxene, 2.8 Mt leucoxene, and 36 Mt of ilmenite. The source states there are grades 0.91% zircon, 0.28% titanium leucoxene, 0.25% leucoxene, and 3.3% ilmenite.

It is the first mineral sands deposit discovered in the Canning Basin, and the company claims the most significant mineral sands discovery in Western Australia for the past thirty years. It has an estimated mine life of 40 years. Most mineral sand deposits in Western Australia, are mineral specimen free zones.

UPDATE 2024
Australian Mining reports:
"Sheffield Resources’ Kimberley Mineral Sands has seen a major ramp up in production at the Thunderbird mineral sands mine in Western Australia.
Thunderbird has produced about 1.35 million tonnes (Mt) for the June 2024 quarter to date, a substantial increase from the previous quarter where 1.1Mt was produced.
During the month of May, Thunderbird produced about 750,000 tonnes, which in line with the current ramp up schedule working towards an annualised ore mining rate of 10Mt per annum."

More details at:
https://www.australianmining.com.au/thunderbird-production-flies-high/

And:
https://www.sheffieldresources.com.au/site/projects/thunderbird-mine

Another deposit is being explored:
"The Night Train prospect is located 20km south of Thunderbird. Mineralisation has been defined on one main line of drilling and is open in most directions.
At 1% HM cut-off the mineralisation is 1.6km wide and from 4.5m to 24m thick (average 11m), with an average HM grade of 4.04%. At 3% HM cut-off, mineralisation is 1.0km wide, from 3m to 12m thick (average 7.5m), with an average grade of 6.40% HM.
Night Train has a high value mineral assemblage with 92% VHM, comprising 15% zircon, 53% leucoxene, 8% HiTi leucoxene and 16% ilmenite. The heavy mineral is free from coatings and has a very high zircon content. The mineralisation is hosted by fine, clean, predominantly quartz sand."

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