ASX Release 29 April 2014 First Quarter 2014 Operations Review MDL owns 50% of TiZir Limited which owns the Grande C?te Mineral Sands Project in Senegal, West Africa and an ilmenite upgrading facility in Tyssedal, Norway. Overview Grande C?te During the quarter construction of the Grande C?te Mineral Sands Project was declared complete and management was formally handed over to the operations team to commence commissioning and ramp-up of production. We are very proud to report that the construction phase involved approximately 11 million man hours of work with an LTI frequency rate of 0.27, making this a world-class project in terms of safety performance. The power station is now fully commissioned and operating efficiently and the rail and port system are complete, operational and awaiting first product shipments. The wet concentrator plant (WCP) was successfully floated during the quarter, joining the dredge in the start-up pond.. The main areas of commissioning focus in the mining area are preparing the dredge pond for operations in the orebody along with water and sand commissioning of the dredge and WCP. To date, the pond level has been successfully lowered to the planned mining depth and some runs on sand have been successfully undertaken. The dredge is now positioned in the orebody proper, having moved from its start-up position in the construction pond. Frustratingly, a number of seals on major pumps on the WCP have been incorrectly supplied or fabricated and we have experienced delays while new seals are manufactured and fitted. We expect to lose approximately one month from our planned ramp-up schedule as a result. A first batch of concentrate was produced late in the quarter. Commissioning of the mineral separation plant (MSP) has been undertaken progressively using concentrate produced from a pilot plant and, more recently, first concentrate from mining operations. The MSP comprises two sections, being the wet and dry plants. Commissioning is proceeding well at both plants with only typically small isolated issues arising. In recent days the first ilmenite product (2 grades) was produced. Zircon production (to detailed specification) requires a steady state feed into the dry plant and this will occur when a significant stockpile of concentrate from the WCP is available. At this stage we anticipate these stockpiles will take a few months to accumulate. In the interim, batches are being processed through the dry mill section to iron out commissioning issues. Tyssedal ? Titanium slag production was 42.0kt with slightly lower production reflecting lower availability of pre reduced material while maintenance was undertaken on the rotary kiln. ? Titanium slag sales were 38.4kt reflecting normal seasonal variation. ? High purity pig iron production was 23.5kt and sales 29.9kt.  To read today's full announcement click here.
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