Critical minerals miner Iluka Resources welcomed a year of stability despite what it described as “subdued demand” across the industry.
Overall, the company delivered a $343 million net profit for 2023, with a final dividend of $0.4 per share going to shareholders.
The company’s 2023 revenue from mineral sands stood at $1.2 million, with an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin of 47 per cent.
Iluka said its performance in 2023 was characterised by discipline in response to persistent inflation, subdued demand and geopolitical volatility.
“Confronted with these circumstances, we prioritised the value of our products, calibrating operational settings and inventory levels accordingly,” Iluka managing director and chief executive officer Tom O’Leary said.
“This approach was enabled by the healthy balance sheet the company has built over several years.
“As a result, prices remained relatively strong and stable, mitigating to some extent the influence of higher costs on our margins.”
O’Leary emphasised the company’s focus on a pipeline of major projects, including bulk earthworks, camp construction and front-end engineering design for the Eneabba refinery in Western Australia.
Headway on other major projects included Balranald in New South Wales, which is currently under construction, where the company will deploy its new remotely operated underground mining technology at commercial scale for the first time.
At Wimmera in Victoria, Iluka is undertaking a definitive feasibility study (DFS) and has declared an ore reserve for the project’s rare earth minerals.
In WA, the potential development at Tutunup was gated to DFS in May as an important future source of ilmenite for synthetic rutile operations. Earlier stage studies on the Euston and Atacama projects were also progressed.
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