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South Africa

Tormin Mine

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Tormin Mine

Location: 360 km N from Cape Town, South Africa

Address:

Tormin Mine Schaapvlei Road
Lutzville
South Africa
8165

Contacts:

Additional Resources for Suppliers & Investors

Categories

Summary

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StatusTemporary Suspension
Commodities
  • Heavy Minerals
  • Zircon
  • Garnet
  • Ilmenite
  • Rutile
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
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SnapshotThe Tormin Mineral Sands Operation consists of a number of high-grade placer beach and strandline mineral sands deposits hosting some of the richest grades in the world of naturally occurring zircon, ilmenite, rutile, magnetite and garnet.

During July 2024 the Tormin Mine was directly affected by a maritime incident involving the stranding and eventual breakup of a container ship on high grade mining beaches. Unfortunately, the financial impact of these events rendered continuing operations at Tormin unviable and the Board resolved to cease funding the Tormin Operations.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Blue Bantry Investments 255 (Pty) Ltd. 50 % Indirect
Mineral Commodities Ltd (operator) 50 % Indirect
Mineral Commodities Ltd (MRC) continues to hold a 50% share in Mineral Sands Resources (MSR), the owner of the Tormin Mine. Following a maritime incident in July 2024, MRC ceased funding Tormin operations, and MSR was placed into business rescue on 6 August 2024. MRC lost control of MSR at that point. MSR is now in provisional liquidation, with the provisional liquidators exploring the sale of Tormin to a third party. MRC remains a major creditor of MSR due to intercompany loans.

Contractors

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SourceSource

Deposit type

  • Mineral sands

Summary:

The western coastal plain of South Africa contains a significant resource of detrital heavy minerals by world standards.

Tormin Beaches
Deposit is a heavy mineral sand deposit located on an active placer beach strandline undergoing continues erosion, deposition and replenishment from oceanic storm and wave activity.

Mineralisation is enriched sedimentary layers semiparallel to the bedrock contact and beach slope angle.

Dimensions
The deposit has a strike length along the coastline of approximately 10,000m with individual beaches generally separated by rocky headlands/rocky beaches which cannot be mined. The deposits have an average width from the cliffs to within the surf zone of 60m. The mining width varies from 20-60m and averages about 35m. The deposit is developed from surface to a maximum depth of 4m. The deposit occurs from the surface down.

Northern Beaches
Deposit is a heavy mineral sand deposit located on an active placer beach strandline undergoing continues erosion, deposition and replenishment from oceanic storm and wave activity.

Most of the deposit is constrained shoreward by the low water mark with a 10m standoff and landward by a 10m standoff from cliffs and dunes. The exception to this is 680k of resource from Beach 10 which is located under dunes.

Mineralisation is enriched sedimentary layers semiparallel to the bedrock contact and beach slope angle.

Dimensions
The deposit has a strike length along the coastline of approximately 10,850m with individual beaches generally separated by rocky headlands/rocky beaches which cannot be mined.

The deposit has an average width from the dunes to within the surf zone of 150m. It is developed from surface to a maximum depth of 4m and the average resource thickness is approximately 2.5m. The deposit occurs from the surface down.

Western and Eastern Strandline
The heavy mineral sand deposits occur in a current active beach environment (e.g., Tormin Beaches and Northern Beaches) as well as in older palaeo-beach raised strandlines found inland (inland strandlines) e.g., Tronox Namakwa Sands. Apart from the mid-Jurassic, Cretaceous and Tertiary (Paleogene) sediments along the coast, numerous small fossiliferous, marine and terrestrial deposits of Neogene age outcrop along the coastal zone.

The onshore mineral sands are marine palaeoterraces “Inland Strands”, aeolian sands and fluvial sediments. These targets were formed during Miocene, Pliocene and Quaternary/Pleistocene coastal transgression (sea move inland) and regression cycles.

The orebody hosts mineralisation in all geological units/layers except for the schist basement.

The deposit is a classic inland strandline mineral sands deposit with no doubt as to its genesis. The grain size characteristics are interpreted to support an offshore depositional setting, closer to the shoreline position.

Dimensions Eastern Strandline
The total deposit, inside MSR controlled Prospecting Rights, has a strike length along the coastline of approximately 7,400m and an average width of 60m, ranging from over 100m wide in the south to 30m wide in the north. The resource area includes northern part in 4.4km length and southern part in 3km length. It is developed from surface to a maximum depth of 72m and the average resource thickness is approximately 40m. The deposit occurs from the surface down.

Dimensions Western Strandline
The total deposit, inside MSR controlled Prospecting Rights, has a strike length of approximately 12,125m and an average width (including low grade halo) of 380m. High grade strandline core of the deposit averages approximately 200m width, along the entire strike length. It is developed from surface to a maximum depth of 49m and the average resource thickness is approximately 21m (including low grade halo). The deposit occurs from the surface down.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Milling equipment has not been reported.

Processing

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Commodity Production

In 2023, an external review of the Inland Strands mining method at Tormin supported recognising low-grade stockpiles previously expensed as waste stockpiles.
CommodityUnits202420232022202120202019
Garnet kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe179
Ilmenite kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe50
Zircon-Rutile kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe9.9
Zircon kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe0
Rutile kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe0
All production numbers are expressed as concentrate.

Operational metrics

Metrics202420232022202120202019
Ore tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe2,509,978 dmt
Tonnes processed  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe2,989,814 dmt
Waste  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Total tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe2,509,978 dmt
Annual processing capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe

Production Costs

Commodity production costs have not been reported.

Mine Financials

Units20232022202120202019
Revenue M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 60.7  
EBITDA M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 13.7  

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jul 18, 2025
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jul 18, 2025

Workforce

EmployeesYear
...... Subscription required 2021

Aerial view:

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