Mt Gibson remains at steady output, lowers costs
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Iron-ore miner Mount Gibson Iron has reported another quarter of steady sales, despite the tough economic conditions faced by iron-ore miners.
Total ore sales for the three months to March 31 reached 1.54-million tonnes, compared with the 1.52-million tonnes sold in the previous quarter.
Mount Gibson reported on Monday that the solid quarterly sales reflected continued steady operational performance from the Extension Hill mine, in the Mid West region of Western Australia, and the completion of mining and sales from the Acacia East satellite pit, at Koolan Island, off the Western Australia coast.
The Extension Hill mine shipped 896 000 t during the March quarter, while the Koolan Island operation shipped a further 651 000 t.
Meanwhile, costs continued to decline, with Mount Gibson reporting an all-in cash cost of A$40/t free-on-board for the quarter, down from the A$47/t reported in the previous quarter.
“In the face of ongoing price volatility in the March quarter, including a drop in the benchmark iron index price below $40/t in January, continued strong operational performances at Koolan Island and Extension Hill enabled the company to maintain its strong cash reserves, further reduce cash costs and generate positive cash flow while also winding down operations at Koolan Island,” said Mount Gibson CEO Jim Beyer.
He noted that the more buoyant prices of recent weeks had been welcome, and provided the company with cause for optimism as its operating focus turned squarely to the Mid West business, where Mount Gibson was targeting the development of the Iron Hill deposit, when the current Extension Hill pit was completed.
“We are also very encouraged by the progress made evaluating the rebuild options for the Main Pit seawall at Koolan Island, while also continuing to evaluate potential new resource acquisition opportunities outside of iron-ore.”
Beyer noted that despite the solid quarterly results, the ongoing volatility in the market meant that Mount Gibson would continue to monitor conditions closely in order to protect its business and preserve value for shareholders.
The company had previously said that it would continue to monitor the viability of the Extension Hill mine with regard to both mine cash flow, as well as historical fixed infrastructure and transport obligations that would become payable on early closure, given the volatility in the iron-ore market.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation