Summary

Mine Type	Open Pit
Study Completed	Prefeasibility
Status	Inactive / Suspended
Commodities	Iron Ore
Mining Method	Truck & Shovel / Loader
Mine Life	...
Snapshot	Flagship 300Mt high grade Direct Shipping Iron Ore (DSO) Weld Range Project has achieved all primary approval requirements. The Weld Range project was put on hold in June 2011 until further clarification on the development timeline of a port and rail project at Oakajee can be established. In October 2023, Fenix Resources entered into an agreement with Sinosteel Midwest Corporation, obtaining the exclusive right to mine and export up to 10 million dry metric tons of high-quality iron ore from the Beebyn-W11 deposit, which is part of the Weld Range. Thus, although Sinosteel’s main Weld Range project is not active, the collaboration with Fenix Resources allows for the start of mining on a separate section of the deposit in the near future. The central location of Weld Range in relation to Sinosteel Midwest Group’s (SMG) other iron ore deposits in the region provides a unique opportunity to create a central processing hub from where these resources can be processed and dispatched.

Deposit type

• Banded iron formation

Summary:

Steeply dipping, east-northeast-striking BIFs are known to occur in three ridges at Weld Range: the North, Central and South Ranges. The BIFs are interleaved with metabasic rocks that show doleritic and lesser basaltic and gabbroic textures. The BIFs within the North, Central and South Ranges are referred to as the Madoonga, Lulworth and Wilgie Mia beds, respectively. Iron mineralisation within the three ranges is not continuous and occurs as 44 distinct iron ore lenses, named W1 to W44. 

The Madoonga deposit contains a steeply south southeast-dipping rock sequence that comprises, from north to south, felsic sedimentary rocks, a 60 to 250 m thick BIF and a 20 to 50 m thick zone of deeply weathered and altered rocks within which the iron mineralisation is hosted. Sediments and sedimentary rocks lie above an erosional unconformity on the iron mineralisation and deeply weathered rocks. The sedimentary rocks comprise ferruginous conglomerate and pisolitic gravels that have a thickness of up to 20 m and locally have high Fe grades (>60% Fe).

The Beebyn deposit contains numerous steeply southeast dipping BIFs interlayed with dolerite, of which the most economically important is approximately 40 m thick. Least altered and unweathered BIFs contain millimetre to centimetre thick bands rich in iron, silica and Fe-silicate and some of the bands are carbonate rich. These mineralised zones are offset by up to 100 m late sub vertical northwest striking faults.

Mining Methods

- subscription is required.

Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Processing

Summary:

Weld Range is a Direct Ore Shipping Project.

Commodity Production

Operational metrics

Personnel

Job Title	Name	Profile	Ref. Date
.......................	.......................		Dec 18, 2024

Total Workforce	Year
......	2019