Name of the Project
Iron Ridge direct shipping ore (DSO) iron project.

Location
The project is located 490 km from the Port of Geraldton, in Western Australia.

Project Owner/s
Fenix Resources.

Project Description
A feasibility study on Iron Ridge has confirmed a high-grade and -quality project that provides strong returns over its six-and-a-half-year life-of-mine.

The feasibility study includes a maiden ore reserve of 7.76-million tonnes at 63.9% iron.

This underpins forecast production of 1.25-million tonnes a year.

The mine will comprise a single openpit operation using a conventional excavator-truck mining fleet, adopting 10 m benches and mining them in three flitches.

Ore and waste will be hauled to the run-of-mine pad and waste dump respectively by a fleet of 100 t haul trucks. Drill-and-blast will be conducted using a top-hammer drill rig and ammonium nitrate fuel oil (ANFO) or heavy ANFO explosives.

Potential Job Creation
A total of 350 full-time-equivalent  direct and indirect jobs throughout the supply chain will be created, including 70 full-time-equivalent on site at the Iron Ridge mine if project approvals are granted.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at a 10% discount rate, of A$54.3-million and an internal rate of return of 58.9%.

Capital Expenditure
The project has an initial capital cost of A$11.5-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Under the current timelines, Fenix is hoping to start development activities at Iron Ridge in October 2020, with first shipments targeted for early 2021. 

Latest Developments
Fenix Resources has awarded a A$185-million contract to MACA for drill and blast, mining and crushing, and screening activities at the Iron Ridge project.

Early stage works started in September, and MACA is mobilising heavy earthmoving equipment to site.

Openpit mining, and crushing and screening operations are expected to start in the current quarter.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
M2A Partners/Thurlestone Shipping (marketing and shipping); CSA Global (resource estimation); Mining Plus (mine design and schedules); Peter O’Bryan & Associates (geotechnical assessment); Rockwater (hydrological assessment and modelling); ALS/Nagrom/CSIRO (metallurgical testwork); METS Engineering (metallurgical assessment); HFC Mining (engineering); Fenix Newhaul (road transport logistics); and MACA (mining operations).

Contact Details for Project Information
Fenix Resources, tel +61 8 9486 4036 or email info@fenixresources.com.