Cataby is a large, chloride ilmenite-rich deposit 150 kilometres north of Perth.

The Cataby Project is located within the central part of the northern Perth Basin, a deep linear trough of sedimentary rocks that is bounded to the east by the Darling Fault and composed of up to 12km of Permian to Quaternary sediments. The regional stratigraphy indicates three distinct depositional cycles in the sedimentary succession. Each cycle is separated by a major unconformity in the form of an erosional surface. [2015 Technical Report, p.34]

The mineralised ore that comprises the Cataby deposit is hosted in the Late Tertiary Yoganup Formation. In the southern portion of the Cataby Project, south of Mimegarra Road, the mineralised deposits are underlain by the Leederville Formation, whilst in the north are underlain by Yarragadee sediments. A small portion of the south-eastern section of the Cataby deposit is likely to be underlain by the Mesozoic sediments of the Parmelia Formation. [2015 Technical Report, p.35]

The mine is a conventional mineral sands development, utilising dozer push and truck and excavator mining to feed two in-pit mining units.

Mining Process Overview:
- Removing and stockpiling soil and overburden via excavator and truck
- Dozer push to in-pit mining units, excavators and trucks transfer to run of mine (ROM)
- Water added to create a slurry to wet concentrator plant
- Spirals and magnetic separation methods split magnetic and nonmagnetic product streams
- Product stockpiled for transport and further processing
- Clay fines and sand pumped back into pits and in-pit sand stacking
- Overburden and top soil rehandled and contoured to produce a final landform. [11/01/2019 Cataby Presentation, p. 10]

Scope of Operations - Mining
• 2 x in-pit mining units fed via dozers
- ore onto apron feeder conveyor through a sizer and into hopper
- water added to form slurry then pumped to surface screening plants
• Surface screening plants consist of trommel and scrubber
- feed either pumped from in-pit mining units or dry fed from the run of mine stockpile via a hopper, screen and conveyor
• Ability to blend feed from high and low grade pits
• Run of mine stockpile can supplement feed
• Mining contractor (Piacentini & Son) for bulk earthmoving operate and maintain: 14 haul trucks (up to 220t payload class); 5 excavators (up to 450t class); 3 scrapers; 10 dozers; 4 graders; 4 water carts. [11/01/2019 Cataby Presentation, p. 13]

In April 2019, the Cataby mine development began production. Cataby produces magnetic (ilmenite) and non-magnetic (zircon and rutile) product streams. [2019 AR, p. 28]

An onsite Wet High Intensity Magnetic Separation (WHIMS) plant separates the magnetic (ilmenite) and non-magnetic product streams (zircon and rutile). [2019 AR, p.36]

Scope of Operations - Concentrating
Overview
• ‘Newman’ Concentrator relocated from Eneabba
• Capacity: 1,100 tonnes per hour rougher head feed (ore less slimes and oversize)

Products and Process
• Magnetic separation (Wet High Intensity Magnetic Separation - WHIMS) added to secondary concentrator (relocated from Murray Basin operations)
• Magnetic (ilmenite) and non-magnetic (zircon + rutile) heavy mineral concentrate produced for haulage
• Simple separation mechanics (gravity, classification and magnets)

Ilmenite sourced from Cataby is transported to Capel for synthetic rutile pro ........