PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Iron-ore major Fortescue’s plans for a new mine near Newman, in Western Australia, have been opened for public comment.
The Nyidinghu mine would mine up to 65-million tonnes a year of ore and would have a processing capacity of up to 40-million tonnes a year, with the project reported to cost A$3.1-billion to develop.
Fortescue had previously said that a final investment decision on Nyidinghu, which is 35 km south of Fortescue’s existing Cloudbreak operation in the Chichester Hub, was due around the 2025 financial year.
The mining proposal includes mine pits above and below the water table, as well as on-site ore processing facilities, with the project envelope to cover 92 301 ha and a disturbed footprint of 12 365 ha.
In addition to the plans for Nyidinghu, Fortescue has also submitted its plans for the East Hamersley railway project for evaluation, under its subsidiary Pilbara Infrastructure.
The group is proposing the construction and operation of a 106 km railway line and associated infrastructure, including communications and signalling infrastructure, an ore loading facility, groundwater abstraction and discharge, borrow pits and quarries, culverts, bridges, diversion drains, pump station, construction camp, landfills and wastewater treatment plants, and other supporting infrastructure.
The proposed railway connects the proposed Nyidinghu iron-ore mine to the existing Fortescue railway line 14 km northwest of the Cloudbreak mine, crossing Weeli Wolli Creek and the Fortescue Marsh.
Public comment on both the mine and the proposed railway line will close on August 27.