Mineral Resources reopens Australian iron ore haul road

Market: Metals
24/03/25

Australian iron ore producer Mineral Resources (MinRes) reopened its private Onslow haul road late on 21 March, following conversations with Western Australia's (WA) safety regulator Worksafe WA.

The company had closed the 150km highway, which links its Onslow iron ore project to the Port of Ashburton, on 19 March. Two ore-filled road train trailers heading towards the port tipped over on 17 March, prompting Worksafe WA to issue MinRes a notice about safety risks along the road.

The Onslow haul road has faced significant challenges over recent months. Cyclone Sean hit WA in late January and damaged it, after four road trains moving ore along the highway toppled over between August-November 2024.

But MinRes is taking steps to improve its private road. The company in January announced plans to look at a possible redesign of the highway in January, and on 24 March announced it will finish upgrading parts of it by September.

MinRes is planning to ramp up production at Onslow to 35mn t/yr during the July-September quarter, having expanded the site's export capacity from 21mn t/yr to 28mn t/yr on 22 March. The company also chose to leave its full-year Onslow export guidance unchanged at 8.8mn-9.3mn wet metric tonnes (wmt) of ore on 24 March.

MinRes produced 58.4pc Fe grade iron ore at Onslow over July-December 2024. Argus' prices for iron ore fines 58pc Fe cfr Qingdao have been volatile over the last three months, rising from $88/t on 23 December to $94.70/t on 21 February, before falling back down to $85.70/t on 21 March, when it was last assessed.

By Avinash Govind

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