The first iron ore under new management of one of Western Australia’s oldest iron ore mines has made its way to the Port of Esperance, one year after the project was deemed to have reached its expiry date.
A train carrying iron ore from the Koolyanobbing mine in the Yilgarn region, 400 kilometres east of Perth, was loaded this week by private company Yilgarn Iron Holdings.
Koolyanobbing is part of the broader Yilgarn Hub, which includes the Carina, Windarling, and Parker Range projects.
Yilgarn Iron bought the assets from Mineral Resources for a nominal fee this year, six months after MinRes shuttered the mines, which it considered had reached the end of their operational life.
Yilgarn Iron managing director Fergus Campbell said the company did not need the large scale of operation MinRes required to make the project viable.
“We are not trying to operate all parts of the project simultaneously, and we are starting at a small capacity of about 4.4 million tonnes per annum, which is substantially less than what MinRes was operating at,” he said.
“We have a four to 4.5-year program of works now in front of us, with around 17 million tonnes of ore, and by the end of that we expect that we're going to be have been successful in our exploration ventures.
“Our average grades during this period will be 56.5 per cent, and with the cost structure we have here that is capable of providing adequate margin for the project to continue and to fund the exploration and the rehab works that we need to do.
“We might have a 56.5 per cent sort of average iron grade, but we can have a 1.5 per cent or lower alumina grade, and that's pretty well unheard of, which is why people love it.”
Mr Campbell said the current iron ore price about $US100/tonne and exchange rate would provide a tidy margin for Yilgarn Iron.
In all, 300 staff, including contractors, are currently working on the project.
Aurizon has been contracted to haul Yilgarn Iron’s ore to Esperance until the end of 2029.
The current iteration is the Koolyanobbing mine’s fifth life, having previously been operated by BHP, Portman, Cleveland Cliffs and MinRes.
BHP subsidiary Dampier Mining Company established the mine and took its ore by rail to Kwinana, where it was fed into BHP’s former iron and steelworks.
Portman restarted a small operation in 1992 and shifted its exports via rail to Esperance.
Portman was bought by US company Cleveland Cliffs in 2008.
MinRes exported 45mt of iron ore during its tenure; 7.6mt of which came in its final year of operation.
The Chris Ellison-led company has operated in the Yilgarn region since 2011 and saved Koolyanobbing from closure in 2018 with assistance in the form of royalty relief from the state government.
Koolyanobbing mine operators
- BHP 1965-1981
- Portman 1992-2008
- Cleveland Cliffs 2008-2018
- Mineral Resources 2018-2024
- Yilgarn Iron 2025
