Analysts at Hartleys responded posit­ively to an upbeat scoping study released by Sheffield Resources last week in relation to its Thunderbird mineral sands project. The report feat­ured impressive projected and estim­ated production and financial parameters including an initial mine life of 32 years, targeted first production in 2017, and annualised earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortis­a­tion (EBITDA) of $140 million.

Life-of-mine revenue is expected to be in the vicinity of $10 billion with a two-year capital payback period. EBITDA for the first 10 years is expected to be $187 million a year. Based on these figures Hartleys increased its recommendation from speculative buy to buy and upgraded its 12-month price target from $1.33 to $2.00.