The Galalar Deposit is a large surface deposit of overlying sand dunes that is part of the Quaternary age Cape Flattery-Cape Bedford dunefield complex. The deposit is dominated by clean high purity >98.5% silica (quartz) which is principally white, cream and light grey in colour, but also with variably dispersed yellow, orange and brown overtones.

The Galalar Deposit consists of two major paralleling dunes, nominally named Galalar East and Galalar West. The deposit extends approx. 3.4km long by 1.2km wide and ranges in vertical thickness from 6m to 32m. The dunes are elongate southeast to northwest and are densely but shallowly vegetated with topsoil to approx. 0.3m depth. The dunes are clearly defined on their long sides and by lower topography. The base of exploitable sand is defined by the water table and/or intersection with the basement consisting of either ‘B1’ orange-brown coloured sand horizon (“coloured sands”) or the clay basement of older weathered bedrock.

The silica sand is consistently high grade throughout, >98.5% SiO2, with variable but minor proportions of Al2O3, Fe2O3 and TiO2 due to the presence of minor clay, iron oxides and heavy minerals.

Mining at GSSP will utilise a loader feeding to trommel, then slurry pumping to processing plant. A dozer will be utilised for progressive vegetation and topsoil stripping along with rehabilitation. Mining processes minimise iron contamination to the exceptionally low iron sand product. The PFS has considered a mix of leased, owner managed fleet will be the most suitable option for the GSSP. Equipment selected is considered common for sand mining operations and similar to plant operated by local earthworks contractors and quarry operators. Industry standard training will be sufficient for operators to be proficient in operating the selected mobile fleet. The MAP is a combination of a mobile hopper-feeder unit which discharges the mined ore at a controlled rate into a mobile screening and slurrying unit fitted with a slurry pump suitable for transferring the slurry to the SPP. The MAP will be fed by a wheel loader.

The hopper-feeder unit consists of a tipping grizzly over a hopper and belt feeder which controls the rate of ore discharge onto a transfer conveyor. The ore from the transfer conveyor is wet screened in a trommel fitted with 4mm aperture polyurethane screen panels and water sprays to assist screening. A short conveyor transports the 4mm oversize material to a stockpile away from the mining unit. The screened ore particles smaller than 4mm fall into a sump below the trommel where sufficient water is added to pump the slurry to the processing plant.
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The selected plan includes a Dry Mining Screen Unit (DMSU) and a Wet Concentrator Plant (WCP). The WCP includes a Lyons Feed Control Unit Surge Bin, Spiral Separation, Attritioner, Up Current Classifier, Low & Wet High Intensity Magnetic Separators and a Thickener. The plant is capable of 150t/h with provisions to upgrade the plan to 220t/h at a later stage.

The processing plant includes:
• Slurry pumped ore from the Mining Area Plant (MAP) discharges onto a vibrating screen mounted above the surge bin. Screen undersize drops into the surge bin for density control;
• MG12 spiral separators receive slurry pumped from the surge bin and distributed through pressure and static distributors. Sand rejects are returned to the MAP for rehabilitation. The silica product stream is laundered to the attritioner feed bin;
• Slurry from the attritioner feed bin is pumped to de-watering cyclones where the cyclone underflow is distributed to attritioning cells to release cont ........