The Atlas mineral sands project, north of Perth in Western Australia, has received environmental approval, ASX-listed Image Resources reported on Thursday.
The approval from Energy, Environment and Climate Action Minister Reece Whitby to develop the Atlas project moved the company one step closer to returning to active mining and revenue generation, said MD and CEO Patrick Mutz.
He said final steps in the Atlas permitting process include securing approvals of management plans, as well as receiving secondary project approvals to allow construction and mining.
Image aims to start site construction early in the third quarter, with mining and commissioning in the fourth quarter, followed by heavy mineral concentrate production in the first quarter of next year.
Atlas is a high-grade mineral sands deposit containing 5.5-million tonnes of ore reserves at 9.2% total heavy minerals and with 96% contained heavy minerals in the proven ore reserves category.
The minerals assemblage includes 11.9% zircon and 7.9% rutile in the heavy minerals.