Mineral Resources (MinRes) is coming off the back of a bumper half-year, with its Onslow Iron project continuing to progress.
The iron ore miner reported strong results from its mining services division, reporting underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITA) of $379 million, a jump of 49 per cent from the first half of the 2023–24 financial year (FY24).
MinRes also commenced two new contracts for rehabilitation and mining and renewed four existing external crushing contracts.
Iron ore shipments were another highlight, totalling 9.7 million wet metric tonnes across all hubs, up 11 per cent.
MinRes managing director Chris Ellison said the company made “huge progress” in ramping up its Onslow Iron project in Western Australia.
“I’m pleased to report all parts of the Onslow Iron pit-to-ship supply chain were operational, with the first three transhippers performing beyond expectations at this stage of the ramp up,” Ellison said.
“January shipments were operating at an annualised run rate of 18 million tonnes, well on the way to the Onslow Iron’s nameplate capacity, before we lost eight days of transhipping to Tropical Cyclone Sean.”
Tropical Cyclone Sean made landfall on the Pilbara coast last Friday, bringing category-four wind and rain to WA.
Ellison said MinRes’ lithium arm was also able to weather the storm.
“The lithium division responded to a sustained tough global market by further reducing costs and improving performance, with the benefits of these measure coming to the fore late in the half, which coincided with a modest recovery in prices,” he said.
“It has been a challenging six-month period for MinRes, but our company has a history of weathering storms and coming out stronger. It is a credit to the dedication and professionalism of the MinRes team that we remain in a strong position and well-placed to deliver improved performance going forward.”
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