Metro Mining’s Bauxite Hills bauxite mine in Queensland has been bolstered by the arrival of two Caterpillar 992 front end wheel loaders.
The loaders were commissioned in August and, with a bucket capacity of 23–27 tonnes, have doubled the capacity of the existing loaders at the site.
This has complemented the increased throughput of 1500 tonnes per hour.
The addition of the loaders working with planned integration and optimisation activities has helped Metro Mining up its production capacity, recording a new monthly shipment record of 0.72 million wet metric tonnes (WMT) in August.
“This is an increase of 13 per cent over July 2024 and 29 per cent over July 2023, despite a two day shutdown during the month to replace conveyor belts at the barge loading facility and planned maintenance of the transhippers,” Metro Mining said in an announcement.
“This takes the quarter to date shipments to 1.4 million WMT and year to date production to 2.9 million WMT, in-line with annual guidance of 6.0 to 6.4 million WMT.”
The company also set a new daily record of 32,022 WMT during the month.
Metro Mining is expecting an additional assit tug to be mobilised at the site in September.
“As the new flow sheet is optimised, along with more favourable ore moisture and tides, Metro expects to see similar gains in monthly production and shipping rates in the coming months,” the company said.
Subscribe to Australian Mining and receive the latest news on product announcements, industry developments, commodities and more.
