WA Kaolin (ASX:WAK) cement a world leading Wickepin resource
WA Kaolin has more than doubled its estimate at Wickepin, bringing in a 113 per cent upgrade to ore resources now standing at 64.9Mt and offering a multi-generational mine life from the world’s largest primary kaolin deposit southeast of Perth in Western Australia.
The production mine life has been extended to a venerable 73 years, and the company is now looking towards growing production from what it believes has just been cemented as a world leading resource.
“This ore reserve upgrade more than doubles our Wickepin Kaolin deposit making it the largest known primary kaolin deposit in the world. This massive resource now supports a 73-year mine life proving that it will be a multi-generation project and provides confidence as we progress our production ramp up to Stage 1 nameplate capacity of 200,000tpa and look towards doubling production capacity in Stage 2,” WA Kaolin CEO Andrew Sorensen said.
The company purchased Wickepin from Rio Tinto some time ago but has since proven its worth, establishing a large resource of extremely high-grade and easy access kaolin being produced using proprietary methods.
WA Kaolin’s dry processing method, called the K99 Process, was designed specifically for a high-grade resource, and has been successfully implemented for the company’s first completed shipment from the project late last year.
The chemically inert and nonabrasive commodity is in demand from a wide range of industries, and falling production from both US and China has continued to put upward pressure on prices.
And the Rockingham-based company now has a world leading Australian resource under its banner as it ramps up towards Stage 1 output of an ultra-bright, high-quality, low-cost product.
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