PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The A$10-billion Roy Hill iron-ore mine, in Western Australia, was steaming towards completion, with the mine expected to ship its first ore by September this year.
CEO Barry Fitzgerald said on the sidelines of the Global Iron and Steel Forecast conference, in Perth, on Wednesday that the project was about 76% complete, with the port, marine and rail works all running ahead of schedule.
Mining was currently under way at a number of pits, and 6.1-million tonnes of ore had been stockpiled to date.
The ramp-up to the project’s full 55-million-tonne-a-year capacity would likely take about 30 months.
Fitzgerald remained insistent that the Roy Hill project was economical, despite the recent free fall in the iron-ore price.
“I wish that we had started the mine two years ago, but we have always been a margin-focused business. The definition of failure for us will be to go through a cost reduction programme, as we really need to be fit-for-purpose from day one.”
“We went into this knowing that the market could change. We will ramp up to be a low-cost producer, and we will take the steps necessary to remain competitive,” Fitzgerald said.
The majority of the planned production from the Roy Hill mine would be shipped to China, with 50% of product heading to the company’s sponsor market. A total of nearly 80% of the Roy Hill production had already been contracted, and Fitzgerald noted that the company would also be looking at the spot market as an avenue for sales.