JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Iron-ore junior Gindalbie Metals, a joint venture (JV) partner in the Karara iron-ore mine, in Western Australia, is advancing plans to enter other projects.
The ASX-listed miner reported on Friday that it was undertaking due diligence studies on a “small number” of selected projects, as part of a strategy to grow shareholder value by deploying its existing cash resources.
At the end of June, Gindalbie had term deposits of A$25-million and cash reserves of A$13.9-million.
The company reported that the Karara JV project with Chinese steel producer Ansteel had delivered 1.62-million wet metric tonnes of magnetite concentrate in the June quarter, a 9.3% decrease on production in the March quarter. The lower output was attributed to planned and unplanned maintenance of the crushing circuit.
A total of 25 shipments were completed from the Karara Export Terminal, at Geraldton, totalling bout 1.52-million wet metric tonnes (wmt) of magnetite concentrate.
The JV’s average magnetite C1 unit cash costs were $63/wmt in the quarter under review, compared with $58/wmt in the March quarter. The increase in costs was owing to lower concentrate production and a higher strip ratio.
The JV managed to secure an additional loan of $200-million, for which Ansteel is providing a guarantee.