Mineral Resources’ (MinRes) new internal airline, MinRes Air, has taken to the skies for the first time with the inaugural flight landing in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The flight transported east coast-based MinRes employees and contractors from Brisbane Airport to the company’s Wodgina and Ken’s Bore mine sites on Tuesday.
The A319 aircraft completed the 3600km cross-country journey from Brisbane to MinRes’ Wodgina lithium mine in five hours and 40 minutes.
“MinRes Air is one of the ways we are redefining the fly in, fly out employee experience by setting a new standard in the resources industry for facilities, food and flights,” MinRes people facilities and logistics executive general manager Bethanie Ibrahim said.
“This industry-first investment will improve safety and productivity by ensuring our people travel to and from site as quickly, conveniently and comfortably as possible.”
For the initial services, MinRes Air has partnered with Skytraders, an Australian-owned airline that has operated the Brisbane-Pilbara route for MinRes since January.
The weekly direct flights to and from Brisbane significantly reduced the travel time and cost for MinRes employees and contractors who live in Queensland or elsewhere on the east coast.
In the second phase of the rollout, flights between the MinRes Air terminal at Perth Airport and Ken’s Bore will launch in the near future to service the Onslow Iron project.
Onslow Iron, delivered its first shipment in May and is on track to ramp up to nameplate capacity of 35 million tonnes per year by June 2025.
MinRes also recently completed a deal with Galileo Mining that will see lithium exploration begin in earnest at the Norseman project in WA.
MinRes has bought 30 per cent of Norseman for $7.5 million, with $5 million having now been paid.
If the project proves fruitful, MinRes will have the option to increase its stake to 55 per cent for an additional $15 million.
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