PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Western Australian Department of Mines and Petroleum has given its approval for the proposed development and mine closure plan at the Wonmunna iron-ore project, owner Ascot Resources announced on Tuesday.
Along with the native vegetation clearing permit, which was granted last October, the mining proposal approval would allow Ascot to start topsoil and overburden removal once the company obtained development finance and board approval for the Wonmunna project.
The Wonmunna project comprises four deposits, which also include the SMM and EMM deposits, and contains a mineral resource of 84.3-million tonnes.
Ascot was proposing to develop a five-million-tonne-a-year direct shipping ore operation at Wonmunna, with production scheduled at an initial three-million tonnes a year, ramping up to full production by the second year of operations.
Ascot said on Tuesday that the company was currently in discussions with third parties to secure a viable solution to get iron-ore product to the market. The company was also considering opportunities to reduce capital and operating costs ahead of a board consideration to proceed with project financing.