MinRes resumes trucking operations on private haul road after sixth incident

Road trains are back on Mineral Resources’ multi-billion-dollar private haul route after operations were temporarily halted following the sixth trucking incident in six months. 

MinRes told the market that iron ore haulage operations had restarted on its Onslow Iron haul road on Friday evening, after pausing operations when part of a road train tipped onto its side last Monday. 

The miner said trucks were back on the $2.6 billion private mine-to-port road after “constructive discussions” with WorkSafe over controls and risk mitigation.

It said its volume guidance was maintained for Onslow Iron for FY25.

The truck roll over last week marked the sixth trucking incident on the 150-kilometre road – part owned by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners – since August last year.

The state’s workplace safety watchdog handed down a notice to MinRes after the incident. The truck driver was not injured, and ore was temporarily being hauled by contractors using alternative routes.

MinRes also told the market this morning that work to upgrade the haul road was on schedule for completion in the first quarter of FY26.

The iron ore and lithium miner made the call to resurface the entire route – that was officially completed in November – after being hampered by extreme weather.

It came after the miner’s outgoing founder Chris Ellison insisted there was no design flaw despite preparing to pay $230 million to repair and resurface the road.

Shares in MinRes were trading up 1.7 per cent to $23.15 apiece this morning.