ASX-listed partners in an iron ore joint venture 51 per cent owned by Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting have retracted production forecasts.
ASX-listed partners in an iron ore joint venture 51 per cent owned by Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting have retracted production forecasts, conceding they were not made on a reasonable basis.
Mt Bevan magnetite project stakeholders Legacy Iron and Hawthorn Resources – minority stakeholders in the project alongside Hancock – issued brief statements to the ASX today to retract claims it made in July in a release around its prefeasibility study for the project.
The retraction relates to a 25-year mine plan laid out in the PFS, as well as production targets for years 11-to-25 of the project and associated financial forecasts.
“Following discussions with ASX Limited (ASX), the company has concluded it does not have a reasonable basis for the production target disclosures in relation to years 11 to 25 of the mine plan,” Legacy wrote.
The company said that investors should not rely on the announcement as a basis for investment decisions, given the lack of reasonable basis for its projections.
The project is operated by Hancock subsidiary Hanroy Iron Ore Projects.
The PFS placed a mid-point net present value of $1.67 billion on Mt Bevan, with a range as high as $3.6 billion.
Capital investment requirement for the magnetite project was estimated at $5 billion at the project, which has a resource measuring a higher-grade 70 per cent iron likely to fetch a premium against the benchmark 62 per cent spot price.
The completion of the PFS was a milestone which gave Hancock a majority 51 per cent stake in Mt Bevan, up from an initial 30 per cent stake taken in 2021.
In the July ASX release announcing the report, a spokesperson for Hancock said the completion of the study was a major milestone for the company and that work was ongoing to facilitate the project’s development.
“The technical outcomes from the work done are positive and further work is being undertaken to optimise the design and costs for supply of power, transport of iron ore product from mine site to a port for export of the project and identification of water sources required for processing and production of the concentrates,” they said.
“However, Australian government tape and the approvals process in Australia add uncertainty to the project, despite its technical merit.”
Mt Bevan is located 100km west of Leonora, in the Central Yilgarn region of WA, and 250km north of Kalgoorlie.
Legacy owns 29.4 per cent of the project, and Hawthorn Resources has the remaining 19.6 per cent.
Legacy shares were flat today, at 1.4c. The company has a market capitalisation of $108 million.
Hawthorn shares were also unmoved, at 6.1c – giving the company a $20.4 million market cap.
