Mineral Resources (MinRes) has said its 2023–24 financial year (FY24) volume and cost guidance has been maintained across its operations during the March quarter.
Iron Ore
The Onslow Iron project in Western Australia remains on track for its first shipment in June, which the company expects will be completed on-time and on-budget.
Overall iron ore shipments decreased six per cent from the December quarter to 4.5 million tonnes (Mt).
The company said mining is operating at full capacity, with 9.4Mt of total material moved during the quarter.
Iron ore mined at MinRes’ Yilgarn Hub in WA decreased five per cent on the previous quarter but shipments increased two per cent. Overall production at the operation was seven per cent lower due to reduced feed availability resulting from onsite haulage constraints.
Pilbara Hub iron ore shipments decreased 12 per cent on the previous quarter as the result of a vessel breakdown on the berth in January.
This incident impacted five shipments, resulting in a loss of 520,000 tonnes. Year-to-date free-on-board costs were $73 per tonne, within the FY24 guidance of $67–77 per tonne.
Lithium
Lithium ore mined at MinRes’ Mount Marion operation in WA decreased 20 per cent in the quarter following implementation of cost-reduction measures, which included reallocating equipment and the redeployment of 130 people to other MinRes operations.
Mount Marion spodumene production increased nine per cent on the previous quarter to 91,000 tonnes, driven by higher utilisation of the plant and improved ore recoveries from an increased volume of fresh ore.
At Bald Hill in WA, mined lithium stood at 251,000 tonnes as mining activities continued to ramp up, including 141,000 tonnes in March alone.
Lithium ore mined at the Wodgina operation in WA increased 47 per cent, with attributable quarterly spodumene concentrate production at 49,000 tonnes.
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