Fortescue expects production from its Iron Bridge magnetite mine to hit nameplate capacity in the 2028 financial year, as it gradually ramps up off the back of a series of setbacks.
Fortescue expects production from its Iron Bridge magnetite mine to hit nameplate capacity in the 2028 financial year, as it gradually ramps up off the back of a series of setbacks.
The Andrew Forrest-founded iron ore miner released a one-page announcement to the ASX this morning, reiterating guidance for the project and setting a target for nameplate capacity in the latter part of the decade.
Fortescue expects to ship between 10 million and 12 million tonnes of material from Iron Bridge next financial year.
It expects the mine to reach annualised production of between 16Mt and 20Mt by the second half of the 2027 financial year, before hitting nameplate capacity in the 2028 financial year.
The production pipeline is a long way from Fortescue’s projections for Iron Bridge when it took a final investment decision on the mine in 2019.
Back then, the project was expected to hit full production rates of 22Mt by June 2023.
Cost and schedule blowouts followed as the state grappled with the impacts of the pandemic, while issues relating to water have impacted the project’s production profile.
Ore is transported at Iron Bridge using a slurry pipeline, and a leak in a pipe connecting to the Canning Basin to the mine was a major setback.
The result has been a slower than forecast production ramp-up. Mining started in 2023, but Iron Bridge celebrated its 5 millionth tonne of shipped magnetite in February this year.
In a statement this morning, Fortescue said Iron Bridge remained an important operation and that steps had been taken to improve efficiencies across the operation.
“In line with this approach, the assessment of the dry plant focused on optimising the performance of the air classification circuit and downstream aerobelt conveyors,” the company said.
“Workstreams included in-house redesign of the air classification units and installation of upgraded ceramic liners to address premature erosion.
“Iron Bridge’s ore processing and production rate have improved as a result of these initiatives.”
Iron Bride is owned in a joint venture between Fortescue (69 per cent) and Taiwanese firm Formosa Steel IB (31 per cent).
Magnetite projects have proved challenging for a Pilbara iron ore sector which typically deals in lower grade hematite ore.
The production output from Iron Bridge is a 67 per cent iron magnetite concentrate.
Grade appears to be a focus for Dr Forrest, who told a mining forum in Perth yesterday that Chinese customers would increasingly favour higher grade product as they sought to decarbonise their steel mills.
Fortescue’s other iron ore mines in the Pilbara produce hematite on the lower end of the grade spectrum, between 56 per cent and 59 per cent iron ore.
The company is investing a green metal facility where it hopes to use renewables and green hydrogen to convert iron ore to sponge iron which would be further processed into a higher purity product.
Iron Bridge was developed at a cost of $5.9 billion, a price tag that blew out by $US1.3 billion over the course of construction.
Fortescue shares fell 1.2 per cent in early trade, to $15.94.
