Embattled iron ore and lithium miner Mineral Resources has temporarily halted trucking operations on its multibillion-dollar private haul road after another road train rolled over.
Embattled iron ore and lithium miner Mineral Resources has temporarily halted trucking operations on its multibillion-dollar private haul road after another road train rolled over.
It marks the sixth trucking incident on the $2.6 billion Onslow Iron haul road since August, with ore now temporarily being hauled by contractors using alternative routes.
MinRes told the market it had "temporarily paused" haulage on the 150-kilometre mine to port route, but did not provide a timeframe as it engages with the workplace safety umpire.
WorkSafe handed down a notice to MinRes yesterday after two rear trailers of a road train tipped onto their side on Monday. MinRes said the truck driver was not injured and the cause of the incident was under internal investigation.
The watchdog's notice related to controls and risk-mitigation of the road train operations, the company told the market.
The market didn’t take kindly to MinRes pausing operations on the private infrastructure, sending the share price down about 5.5 per cent to $23.48 apiece.
"Haulage is continuing via contractor vehicles using alternative routes, and MinRes transhippers will continue to load ocean-going vessels during this period," MinRes told the market.
“MinRes has strengthened controls and traffic management on the haul road and currently expects to resume haul road operations without impacting FY25 Onslow Iron volume guidance."
Earlier this year, outgoing founder Chris Ellison insisted there was no fault in the design on the $2.6 billion road - part owned by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners - after revealing the company was set to resurface the route that was only officially completed in November.
In its half-year results, the company revealed it would spend $230 million on fixing and resurfacing the 150km road after it was hampered by weather events.
Mr Ellison repeatedly insisted they got the road about “95 per cent right”.
MinRes chief financial officer Mark Wilson previously said the truck rollovers involved some degree of operator error.
