australia's identified mineral resources 2005 - Geoscience Australia

AUSTRALIA’S IDENTIFIED MINERAL RESOURCES 2005
and then exported to a pellet plant in southeast Asia. A bankable feasibility study commenced in late
2004 and is expected to take about 12 months to complete. If the $400 million project proves viable
construction could commence in 2006 with exports commencing in 2008.
Mineralogy Pty Ltd: The $1.8 billion Fortescue iron ore project consists of a mine based on the
George Palmer deposit, a pellet plant and a port at Cape Preston. Mineralogy is proposing to
produce 5 Mtpa of concentrate and 5 Mtpa of pellets over 25 years. Construction is planned to
start in 2005 with the first shipments to start by late 2007.
Murchison Metals Ltd: The $14.5 million Jack Hills iron ore project is scheduled to commence in
late 2005 at a rate of 1.0 Mtpa. Direct shipping grade ore will be trucked by road trains 580 km to
the Port of Geraldton for export. A second stage consists of a 15 to 20 Mtpa operation and includes
the construction of railway and port infrastructure at a cost of $400 to $500 million.
Gindalbie Gold Ltd: A scoping study is due for completion in early 2005 on the Mt Karara magnetite
deposit. The deposit could potentially support a 2 Mtpa magnetite concentrate operation over 20 years.
Resource Mining Corporation: The company is seeking to prove sufficient reserves at the Argyle
iron ore deposit (previously known as Pompeys Pillar) to sustain an operation of direct shipping ore
that would be trucked 170 km to Wyndham for export.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA, TASMANIA AND NORTHERN TERRITORY
OneSteel Ltd: In August 2004, Onesteel announced the start of Project Magnet, which is planned to
extend the life of the South Australian Whyalla operation from 2020 to at least 2027. The $250 million
project will convert the Whyalla Steelworks to producing steel from magnetite rather than hematite.
The project, which is scheduled to be completed in mid-2006, includes a mine cut back, magnetite
concentrator, 62 km of slurry pipeline and conversion of the pellet plant. Iron ore and production
will rise from 3 to 9.5 Mtpa and includes exports of 3 Mtpa of hematite and 320 ktpa of pellets.
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd: At Savage River the North and Centre Pits commenced ore production. The
South Pit ceased production in mid-2004 and work continued on an evaluation of an underground
block cave operation in the North Pit. The open-pit mine is scheduled to reach the end of its life in
2007 with pellet production finishing in 2009.
Territory Iron Ltd: The company is seeking to upgrade resources at Frances Creek to allow the
development of an operation that would rail iron ore 200 km to Darwin for export.
Industry Developments – Iron and Steel
Operating and proposed Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) and steelworks in Australia include:
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The Boodarie hot briquetted iron plant near Port Hedland. After an explosion in May 2004 the
plant was placed on care and maintenance in November until its long term future is determined.
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Construction of the $420 million HIsmelt DRI processing plant at Kwinana was largely completed
by the end of 2004 with commissioning due to commence in early 2005. The plant is designed to
process 1.3 Mtpa of high phosphorous iron ore to produce 800 ktpa of 96% iron content pig iron.
Pig iron production in blast furnaces at Port Kembla and Whyalla.
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Steel production at Port Kembla, Whyalla, Rooty Hill, Mayfield and Laverton North.
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Compact Steel is planning a 1.4 Mtpa steel plant costing $1.5 billion at Rockingham in Western
Australia.
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Protech Steel is investigating a $600 million steel processing mill to produce mainly coated steel
products in Newcastle.
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Specialty Steels propose to construct a steel mini-mill capable of producing up to 260 000 tpa of
stainless and specialty steel products in the Swanbank Enterprise Park near Ipswich.