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Australia

Onslow (Ashburton) Mine

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Australia

Onslow (Ashburton) Mine

Location: 125 km SE from Onslow, Western Australia, Australia

Regional Office:

20 Walters Drive, Osborne Park
Perth
Western Australia, Australia
6017

Contacts:

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Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Iron Ore
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Production Start... Lock
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotThe Onslow Iron project is one of the largest iron ore projects currently under development in Australia.

Onslow Iron Project (formerly known as the Ashburton project) consists of the Ken’s Bore mine site, crushing plant at the mine, a dedicated haul road linking the mine site to port, as well as landside and marine facilities at the Port of Ashburton.

Onslow Iron achieved first ore on ship ahead of schedule in May 2024 – less than a year after breaking ground at the Ken’s Bore mine site.

The focus over the coming year will be ramping up Onslow Iron to nameplate capacity of 35Mtpa from June 2025.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
POSCO Australia Pty Ltd 10.3 % Indirect
AMCI Group 10.7 % Indirect
China Baowu 18.7 % Indirect
Mineral Resources Ltd. (operator) 60.3 % Indirect
The Onslow Iron project is being developed by Mineral Resources (MinRes) in partnership with Baowu Steel Group Corp., Ltd., AMCI Group and POSCO Australia Pty Ltd (Red Hill Iron Ore Joint Venture).

MinRes is delivering mining services and infrastructure for the project, including haulage, port and transhipping services to facilitate the export of the product.

Effective Ownership:

- MinRes 60.3%. Onslow attributable volumes are expected to average at MinRes’ 57% equity share over the life of the project. MinRes also holds an indirect interest of 3.3% through its shareholding in Aquila Resources.

- Baowu 18.7;

- AMCI 10.7%;

- POSCO 10.3.

Contractors

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SourceSource

Deposit type

  • Channel Iron (CID)

Summary:

The Ken’s Bore Project iron ore mineralisation occurs as a secondary Channel Iron Deposit (CID) also known as Robe Pisolites.

The deposit straddles the western edge of the Hamersley Basin in the Pilbara Craton. Ken’s Bore CID mineralisation occurs as a paleochannel striking Northwest. CID has been formed by the alluvial and chemical deposition of iron-rich sediments in paleo-river channels after erosion and weathering of lateritised Hamersley Group sediments. The CID occurs as a partly dismembered, topographically inverted palaeochannel deposit preserved along major palaeodrainage lines with an area of approximately 9.9km2.

The Robe Pisolite is dominantly a clast-supported conglomerate composed of iron-rich detrital material that has undergone variable amounts of weathering. The conglomerate varies in the proportion of clasts to matrix, and in clast composition. The pisolite typically contains concretions of goethite-hematite and fossilised wood cemented with iron oxide.

Weathering and alteration within the CID impart a characteristic, traceable vertical zonation. These horizons are the uppermost hard cap zone, followed by a mottled clay horizon, a zone of enriched higher-grade ore (due to elevated hematite content), a zone of mixed or denatured ore and an extensive mottled clay zone which exists at the base of the CID.

Iron mineralisation at Ken’s Bore consists of a series of lenses and pods with the mineralisation defined by three distinct zones.
- Goethitic (semi) hard cap occurs at the interface between the alluvial/immature detritals/clayey cover. This unit is relatively thin (~6m thick) and not always laterally continuous.
- The primary ore body is hard and competent CID (~19m thick) and typically occurs below the hard cap and clayey zones. CID here is generally very well preserved and more hematitic than goethitic.
- The basal mixed CID zone occurs almost exclusively below the hard primary ore zone. It is thickest in the middle of the channel and tapers out towards the flanks of the channel (~ 6m thick).

The deposit is approximately 11km in length and has a maximum width of approximately 2km. The mesa raises up to 30m high in places with paleochannel extending to depths of 70m.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Milling equipment has not been reported.

Processing

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Production

CommodityProductUnits2024
Iron Ore Fines M wmt  ....  Subscribe
Iron M wmt  ....  Subscribe
^ Guidance / Forecast.

Operational metrics

Metrics2024
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Ore tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe
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Production Costs

Commodity production costs have not been reported.

Heavy Mobile Equipment

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EV - Electric
AV - Autonomous

Personnel

Mine Management

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Aerial view:

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