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- GWR Group’s (GWR) C4 iron ore mine is back in full production with shipments secured through to July
- Mining operations were suspended last September due to falling iron ore prices but restarted last month after cost savings were identified across the operation
- The company recently shipped nearly 30,500 tonnes of iron ore lump at 64.7 per cent iron at a fixed price of US$100 (A$140) per tonne
- GWR says it’s well positioned to increase volumes with another 20 million tonnes available at the C4 mine should it secure long-term contracts or iron ore prices rise further
- GWR’s shares are up 17.2 per cent to trade at 17 cents
GWR Group’s (GWR) C4 iron ore mine is now back in full production after suspending its operations last September amid the falling iron ore price.
Operations restarted in early January at the C4 mine in Western Australia’s Mid West following a more than three-month hiatus. Low iron ore prices led to the company suspending operations despite August being a record operational month and the project being “production-ready”.
The company said it has gone through a process of identifying cost savings across the operation.
Following the restart last month, GWR shipped 30,438 tonnes of iron ore lump from the Port of Geraldton at a premium grade of 64.7 per cent iron on a fixed price at US$100 (A$140) per tonne.
The company said drill and blast operations provided by MCS Solutions at C4 are fully operational, with the mining fleet exposing significant quantities of high-grade ore. The 530 Bench being mined at the Stage 1 pit contains 111,000 tonnes of high-grade ore averaging 62.0 per cent iron at a low strip ratio of 0.3 tonnes of waste for 1 tonne of ore.
Over 2 million tonnes of high-grade iron ore at low strip ratios is available and the crushing and screening plant and mining fleet are fully operational.
“It is great to see the flagship C4 Iron Ore mine back in full production. Having worked through the recent volatility in iron ore prices, the GWR team has been able to refine operations focused on cost reduction and fixed priced contract shipments,” Chairman Gary Lyons said.
The company has a steady sales book in place with increasing fixed price contracts of one vessel per month through to July.
The next shipment is due late this month and has been secured on a fixed price at US$95 (A$133) per tonne for fines and US$100 per tonne for lump for 30,000 tonnes each for lump and fines.
GWR is assessing opportunities for a second vessel each month to potentially tap into alternative markets such as Malaysia and Indonesia.
The company believes it’s well positioned to increase volumes in future with an additional 20 million tonnes available at the C4 mine and should it secure long-term contracts or iron ore prices rise further.
GWR’s shares were up 17.2 per cent to trade at 17 cents at 12:39 pm AEDT.
