Gindalbie Metals has announced the first shipment of magnetite concentrate from its Karara project through Geraldton port to China.

The company said the Panamax vessel, Sunrise Star, left Geraldton port yesterday laden with 55,000 tonnes of magnetite concentrate.

Gindalbie's managing director Tim Netscher described the first shipment of magnetite as a significant milestone.

"While 2012 has without doubt been a tough year for Gindalbie from a share market perspective, this should not overshadow the very significant operational achievements of the year," he said.

"I am confident that the underlying value of our project will flow through over the coming year."

Gindalbie said commissioning of its concentrator at Karara was continuing to progress well, with various sections of the plant being sequentially commissioned and production rates together with concentrate quality increasing in line with the commissioning and ramp up plan which was developed some months ago.

"Commissioning will continue to progress over the coming months, with the project on track to achieve its full nameplate production capability of 8mtpa by the end of April," the company said in a statement.