Transcription of Finance News Network Interview with Mineral Deposits Limited (ASX:MDL)CEO, Robert Sennitt
 
 
Lelde Smits: Mineral Deposits Limited (ASX:MDL) owns half the TiZir  joint venture in partnership with ERAMET of France. The JV comprises of two assets, the Grande Côte mineral sands operation in Senegal, known as GCO, and also the TiZir titanium and iron ilmenite upgrading facility in Norway, known as TTI.
 
I’m Lelde Smits and joining me at ASX Investor Series in Sydney is the Company’s CEO, Robert Sennitt. Robert, welcome.
 
Robert Sennitt: Thank you very much, it’s great to be here.
 
Lelde Smits: What is the size and construction cost of the GCO operation, and what makes it unique?
 
Robert Sennitt: We finished building the GCO operation in February of 2014, and we’re currently in the process of commissioning that operation now. When it’s fully commissioned, it’ll produce 575,000 tonnes of ilmenite and 85,000 tonnes of zircon. It cost us $650 million to build, so it’ll be a great operation when it’s finished.
 
Lelde Smits: What are your ambitions for GCO and also your timeline for achieving them?
 
Robert Sennitt: Well the focus very much at this stage is on the commissioning of GCO. We’ve told people that we’re looking to have it all up and running at designed capacity, by the end of third quarter this year. So we’re working very hard to make sure that happens. And then once we’ve done that, we’ll then integrate it with our operations in Norway at TTI. And hopefully, all our shareholders will then benefit from all the vertical integration and benefits that flow from that, and operating those two things together.
 
Lelde Smits: What does TTI produce and how does it compliment the GCO operation?
 
Robert Sennitt: As I mentioned earlier, we produce a raw material at GCO. That ilmenite goes across to TTI, where it’s transformed into a high-grade titanium slag, which is then on sold to pigment producers around the world. The inter-relationship between GCO and TTI is a very important one, because it allows a secure home for the GCO ilmenite, and it also provides security supply for TTI.
 
Lelde Smits: Who are your main customers, and how does TTI facilitate the delivery of your product to customers?
 
Robert Sennitt: As I mentioned, our key customers are the major pigment producers around the world. TTI being located in Norway is ideal actually. Because effectively, what you have is most of those big pigment producers, western pigment producers who we service, tend to have their plants located either in North America or Europe, which is obviously very close to Norway.
 
Lelde Smits: What do you believe are the main factors currently impacting mineral sands pricing, and what’s your outlook for the medium term?
 
Robert Sennitt: Like all commodity prices, mineral sands prices have suffered in recent years. But at least now, we’re starting to see a lot of that surplus inventory starting to come out of the market, particularly from our main customers.The drivers of the mineral sands market tend to be global GDP, so as most of the products end up in paints and papers, and plastics. So as the world starts to recover, hopefully we start to see mineral sands pricing heading the same way.
 
Lelde Smits: Finally Robert. What’s your vision for TiZir and what do you anticipate will be the next milestones?
 
Robert Sennitt: The next six months are really important for us. So we finish the commissioning at GCO in the third quarter of this year. And then in the fourth quarter, we realign the upgrading facility in Norway, such that we go into 2016 hopefully all guns blazing, everything working well. Such that we have a great year for our shareholders in 2016.
 
Lelde Smits: Robert Sennitt, thank you for the update from Mineral Deposits.
 
Robert Sennitt: Thank you very much for having me.
 
 
Ends