The first shipment of mineral sands from a major mine in the Kimberley to China has begun despite concerns about Indigenous cultural heritage.
Key points:
- A $484 million mineral sands mine in the Kimberley has exported its first shipment
- Kimberley Mineral Sands (KMS) shipped 300 metric tonnes of non-magnetic zircon concentrate to China
- The shipment coincides with a partial land clearing suspension placed on the company after a direction stone was found
In an announcement to the ASX today, Sheffield Resources confirmed its $484 million Thunderbird mine has exported its first shipment.
The project's prospects have been building since 2020 when Sheffield formed a joint venture, Kimberley Mineral Sands (KMS), with Chinese steel company Yansteel.
It has since received $160 million in funding from a Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility loan.
"Kimberley Mineral Sands completed a maiden product shipment comprising approximately 300 metric tonnes of bagged non-magnetic (zircon) concentrate over the weekend," the Sheffield Resources announcement said.
The shipment was exported from Port Hedland to China.
"With KMS production ramp up progressing very well, we look forward to delivering further increased volumes of product to our customers in the coming weeks and months ahead," Sheffield Resources executive chair Bruce Griffin said.
Almost all zircon produced in Australia is exported for processing overseas, with China making up more than 50 per cent of the global import market.
On-site partial suspension after find
The news came as on-site land clearing operations have been placed under partial suspension by the WA Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage after an Indigenous direction stone was found.
"In line with recent amendments to the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972, Kimberley Mineral Sands reported new information — a direction stone — relating to an existing Section 18 Consent for their Thunderbird project," a spokesperson from the department said in a statement.
"A partial suspension has been applied to the area within a 25-metre radius of the identified direction stone.
"Kimberley Mineral Sands took action to isolate the area where the stone is located, ceased clearing works in the immediate vicinity and will meet with the Joombarn-Buru Aboriginal Corporation to determine an agreed outcome."
Calls to revisit heritage surveys
Nyigina woman Rosita Shaw wants to see a halt to all further land clearing and site development until Kimberley Mineral Sands and traditional owners can go over existing heritage survey reports.
"It's significant, the finding of a direction stone because it was put there by our old people for a reason, you can't move it," Ms Shaw said.
"When our people used to move seasonally, then they used to put direction stones so it leads them to a campsite. It leads them to a waterhole. So that's why it's there for a reason."
Ms Shaw said she was concerned there were more direction stones and other cultural heritage objects that have not yet been identified at the site.
"We don't want to do any more clearing, no more heritage surveys, no more clearances, we want them to come back and we [traditional owners] need to revisit the whole area again."
Relationships strained
Ms Shaw said she was concerned by what she referred to as a complete lack of communication between traditional owners and Kimberley Minerals Sands regarding cultural heritage matters.
"The only communication we get with them is when they come to our board meeting and just put up tenders for contract and talk about other things," she said.
KMS manager of community and public relations Chris Cottier admitted its relationship with the Joombarn-Buru Aboriginal Corporation was not where the company would like it to be.
"In this instance, it hasn't gone as smoothly as we would have liked it to go, but we remain optimistic that we can continue to work with the traditional owners to find a way forward," he said.
Mr Cottier said the coexistence agreement signed between Joombarn-Buru Aboriginal Corporation and the KMS detailed how cultural heritage issues were dealt with.
"The expectation and direction is that Kimberley Mineral Sands needs to work with the Joombarn-Buru traditional owners to find a solution to the heritage site," he said.
"But obviously our intent is that we really, really want to sit down with the traditional owners to find a way forward to how we address it."
He said the discovery of the direction stone would not impact the mine's export plans.
"We've been producing product through our plant, we've got a stockpile of zircon and we've been loading product. So the finding of that heritage object won't have any impact in terms of the first exports."