Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Privately held Cu-River Mining Australia has announced an A$800-million expansion of the Cairn Hill magnetite mine, in South Australia.
The investment would triple current magnetite production, initially to three-million tonnes a year, and then up to 15-million tonnes a year by 2021, creating up to 1 300 additional jobs, South Australian Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis announced this week.
“South Australia welcomes the expansion of the resource sector and the clear message it sends to the international community that we remain a reliable supplier of mineral exports.
“Step by step South Australia is fulfilling its destiny to become a leading exporter of iron-ore to the world,” the Minister said.
The state government has already approved two additional pits at Cairn Hill that will contribute to tripling the previous annual output to three-million tonnes a year of magnetite.
The next stage of expanded production, sourced from nearby prospects within the Woomera Prohibited Area, still requires further environmental and other approvals from both the state and commonwealth governments.
Cu-River executed a funding agreement with China’s Jiujiang Mining Australia to assist in securing the required A$800-million financing facility, in exchange for an offtake agreement over all of the ore generated from the expanded operation.
Cu-River Mining Australia acquired the Cairn Hill project in 2014 from the liquidation of Termite Resources, with the company investing some A$20-million to restart production at the mine in June of last year.