Port Augusta would make sense. Rail from Prom Hill/Carra, process at Augusta, rail to Port Adelaide, export overseas (or export directly from Port Augusta)SBD wrote: ↑Fri Aug 25, 2017 9:17 pmMost recent I can find is Q1 update which says the preferred site is near Port Augusta. Earlier thoughts had included signing an MoU with Arrium to build it at Whyalla.SouthAussie94 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 24, 2017 6:16 pm
Copper Concentrate from their Prominent Hill mine (near Coober Pedy) is taken by rail to Port Adelaide where it is loaded onto ships and exported. I'd imagine that any processing plant would be located either onsite at the mine, or at a location somewhere near the rail line. Port Augusta? Port Adelaide? Somewhere else? Could be anyone's guess...
#Official Mining Thread
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SouthAussie94
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Re: #Official Mining Thread
"All we are is bags of bones pushing against a self imposed tide. Just be content with staying alive"
Views and opinions expressed are my own and don't necessarily reflect the views or opinions of any organisation of which I have an affiliation
Views and opinions expressed are my own and don't necessarily reflect the views or opinions of any organisation of which I have an affiliation
Re: #Official Mining Thread
How?SouthAussie94 wrote: (or export directly from Port Augusta)
Does Port Augusta have any export port? Is the gulf deep or wide enough to bring sizable ships that far up?
Whyalla or Port Adelaide are the realistic export ports.
Re: #Official Mining Thread
I think they also get decent sized ships in to Port Pirie, but agree that Port Augusta and Port Paterson (where the power stations were) are too small to be useful.
Something I found online suggested the processing plant would be on the eastern side of the railway line about half way from the tomato farm to the Horrocks Pass road.
Re: #Official Mining Thread
More precisely, Port Bonython (once the new jetty is built) or Port Adelaide, although Port Pirie would also be capable. Whyalla, while technically capable, would be unlikely due to the ship not being able to be loaded at a wharf. If the concentrate has to be railed from the plant to the wharf, this double-handling at port would preclude Whyalla, IMO.
cheers,
Rhino
Rhino
Re: #Official Mining Thread
From ABC News online:
New iron ore mines to feed Whyalla steelworks and boost SA exports
New iron ore mines to feed Whyalla steelworks and boost SA exports
A new South Australian iron ore mine has been approved to feed Whyalla's steelworks at cheaper cost, and another to boost iron ore exports from the region.
The new mining leases have been approved in the Middleback Range on Eyre Peninsula and add to Whyalla businessman Sanjeev Gupta's assets portfolio.
His company SIMEC Mining has gained approval for the Iron Sultan mine — which will feed the Whyalla steelworks — and the Iron Warrior mine, which will produce up to 1.5 million tonnes of export iron ore annually.
The ventures are expected to support a workforce of 56 as well as another 130 contractors.
They are the first approvals for the Whyalla region since SIMEC acquired Middleback Range mining leases as part of Gupta GFG Alliance's purchase of debt-laden steelmaker Arrium.
SA Mineral Resources Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the Iron Sultan mine would develop a hybrid pellet feed plant to significantly reduce the price of making steel at the Whyalla blast furnace.
"Iron Sultan will play a significant role in reducing the costs of steelmaking at Whyalla steelworks, while Iron Warrior continues South Australia's role as a reliable iron ore exporter," he said.
"Approval of these two mines demonstrates the commitment of the new owner to develop its South Australian iron ore assets and create a more sustainable steelmaking business."
cheers,
Rhino
Rhino
Re: #Official Mining Thread
Impressive copper exploration results revealed by BHP point to SA’s copper renaissance
Cameron England, Business editor, The Advertiser
November 28, 2018 6:00am
Subscriber only
It could be bigger than Olympic Dam
BHP: Mining giant marks 30 years at Olympic Dam
IN terms of copper deposits, South Australia is often referred to as “elephant country”.
But until two decades ago, we’d only discovered one elephant — the world’s largest polymetallic ore deposit at Olympic Dam, which a group of renegade explorers at Western Mining Corporation discovered in a high-risk exploration program in 1975.
It was more than two decades later, in 2001, that exploration minnow Minotaur Resources discovered the Prominent Hill deposit — now a mine which produces more than 100,000 tonnes of copper per year.
Then in 2005, one-man band Rudy Gomez found the Carrapateena deposit just west of Lake Torrens, which is currently being developed into a $916 million mine by Adelaide mining company OZ Minerals.
In the space of three decades we’ve gone from one major copper mine to three, factoring in Carrapateena’s start up next year. And the impressive copper exploration results revealed by BHP yesterday — an intersection of 180m at a grade of more than 6 per cent about 1km below the surface — indicate we could be on a path to more.
But why has it taken so long for South Australia to capitalise on its resources riches in this area?
Copper has a storeyed history in South Australia. While the myth is that Australia’s wealth was initially derived “riding on the sheep’s back”, in SA the “Monster Mine” at Burra, discovered in 1845, and other mines at Kapunda, Moonta, Wallaroo and Kanmantoo provided the early wealth for the young colony and also a significant proportion of the world’s copper supplies.
These early copper projects were near or at the surface, meaning mining and discovery was straightforward.
The difficulty in modern times is that, to mix metaphors, the low-hanging fruit has all been plucked, and SA’s geology means that while more massive copper deposits are suspected to exist, they are hidden hundreds of metres under a cap of rock and dirt.
Existing South Australian copper mines. Picture: OZ Minerals
Paul Heithersay, chief executive of the State Government’s Department for Energy and Mining, has for many years used a graph which shows the dramatic difference in size between the Olympic Dam deposit — which is estimated can be mined for up to another 100 years — and other copper deposits, such as Prominent Hill, which have been discovered.
The graph shows that in other areas around the world, copper deposits exist on a continuum. Where one elephant roams, there are likely to be more.
But in SA, the size of Olympic Dam, the discovery of which was based on exploration theories considered radical at the time, sits by itself in terms of sheer magnitude.
The reason is obvious — it is very difficult to discover minerals under 400-1000m of rock. But it has been done.
Paul Heithersay, chief executive of the State Government’s Department for Energy and Mining, has for many years used a graph which shows the dramatic difference in size between the Olympic Dam deposit — which is estimated can be mined for up to another 100 years — and other copper deposits, such as Prominent Hill, which have been discovered.
The graph shows that in other areas around the world, copper deposits exist on a continuum. Where one elephant roams, there are likely to be more.
But in SA, the size of Olympic Dam, the discovery of which was based on exploration theories considered radical at the time, sits by itself in terms of sheer magnitude.
The reason is obvious — it is very difficult to discover minerals under 400-1000m of rock. But it has been done.In 2005, after 17 years of trying to find partners to help him fund the drilling of exploration holes at his Carrapateena prospect in the state’s Far North, Rudy Gomez bet his life savings on two drill holes which would punch more than 600m into the rock.
It was a good bet. Mr Gomez eventually reaped more than $100 million when he sold the project.
It has long been rumoured that BHP had come across some interesting exploration results somewhere in the state’s Far North.
While those rumours were probably just that, the company’s announcement yesterday is sure to fire up other explorers keen to test their exploration theories. Share prices have already started to move based on this theory.
Mr Gomez himself has other projects on the go. And small, listed companies, such as Argonaut Resources, are also preparing to drill.
All of this activity could be a boon for the state.
The previous Labor government instigated the state’s copper strategy, which aims to boost copper production in SA to one million tonnes a year over the next 20 years. We have a way to go.
While we have about 68 per cent of Australia’s copper resources, most of that tied up in Olympic Dam, we produced only about a third of the nation’s copper in 2015.
In that year, copper production was 284,314 tonnes. While BHP has plans, some solid and some still on the drawing board, to expand Olympic Dam, hitting that target will involve the development of a number of new mines.
But the global demand for copper is there, and the potential lies within SA to find and produce more of the metal, which is integral to developing economies as they consume more power, cars and electrical goods.
And GFG Alliance is also planning to build a copper smelter in SA.
The state’s second copper boom could be in the making.
https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business ... bdaaee5a75
Cameron England, Business editor, The Advertiser
November 28, 2018 6:00am
Subscriber only
It could be bigger than Olympic Dam
BHP: Mining giant marks 30 years at Olympic Dam
IN terms of copper deposits, South Australia is often referred to as “elephant country”.
But until two decades ago, we’d only discovered one elephant — the world’s largest polymetallic ore deposit at Olympic Dam, which a group of renegade explorers at Western Mining Corporation discovered in a high-risk exploration program in 1975.
It was more than two decades later, in 2001, that exploration minnow Minotaur Resources discovered the Prominent Hill deposit — now a mine which produces more than 100,000 tonnes of copper per year.
Then in 2005, one-man band Rudy Gomez found the Carrapateena deposit just west of Lake Torrens, which is currently being developed into a $916 million mine by Adelaide mining company OZ Minerals.
In the space of three decades we’ve gone from one major copper mine to three, factoring in Carrapateena’s start up next year. And the impressive copper exploration results revealed by BHP yesterday — an intersection of 180m at a grade of more than 6 per cent about 1km below the surface — indicate we could be on a path to more.
But why has it taken so long for South Australia to capitalise on its resources riches in this area?
Copper has a storeyed history in South Australia. While the myth is that Australia’s wealth was initially derived “riding on the sheep’s back”, in SA the “Monster Mine” at Burra, discovered in 1845, and other mines at Kapunda, Moonta, Wallaroo and Kanmantoo provided the early wealth for the young colony and also a significant proportion of the world’s copper supplies.
These early copper projects were near or at the surface, meaning mining and discovery was straightforward.
The difficulty in modern times is that, to mix metaphors, the low-hanging fruit has all been plucked, and SA’s geology means that while more massive copper deposits are suspected to exist, they are hidden hundreds of metres under a cap of rock and dirt.
Existing South Australian copper mines. Picture: OZ Minerals
Paul Heithersay, chief executive of the State Government’s Department for Energy and Mining, has for many years used a graph which shows the dramatic difference in size between the Olympic Dam deposit — which is estimated can be mined for up to another 100 years — and other copper deposits, such as Prominent Hill, which have been discovered.
The graph shows that in other areas around the world, copper deposits exist on a continuum. Where one elephant roams, there are likely to be more.
But in SA, the size of Olympic Dam, the discovery of which was based on exploration theories considered radical at the time, sits by itself in terms of sheer magnitude.
The reason is obvious — it is very difficult to discover minerals under 400-1000m of rock. But it has been done.
Paul Heithersay, chief executive of the State Government’s Department for Energy and Mining, has for many years used a graph which shows the dramatic difference in size between the Olympic Dam deposit — which is estimated can be mined for up to another 100 years — and other copper deposits, such as Prominent Hill, which have been discovered.
The graph shows that in other areas around the world, copper deposits exist on a continuum. Where one elephant roams, there are likely to be more.
But in SA, the size of Olympic Dam, the discovery of which was based on exploration theories considered radical at the time, sits by itself in terms of sheer magnitude.
The reason is obvious — it is very difficult to discover minerals under 400-1000m of rock. But it has been done.In 2005, after 17 years of trying to find partners to help him fund the drilling of exploration holes at his Carrapateena prospect in the state’s Far North, Rudy Gomez bet his life savings on two drill holes which would punch more than 600m into the rock.
It was a good bet. Mr Gomez eventually reaped more than $100 million when he sold the project.
It has long been rumoured that BHP had come across some interesting exploration results somewhere in the state’s Far North.
While those rumours were probably just that, the company’s announcement yesterday is sure to fire up other explorers keen to test their exploration theories. Share prices have already started to move based on this theory.
Mr Gomez himself has other projects on the go. And small, listed companies, such as Argonaut Resources, are also preparing to drill.
All of this activity could be a boon for the state.
The previous Labor government instigated the state’s copper strategy, which aims to boost copper production in SA to one million tonnes a year over the next 20 years. We have a way to go.
While we have about 68 per cent of Australia’s copper resources, most of that tied up in Olympic Dam, we produced only about a third of the nation’s copper in 2015.
In that year, copper production was 284,314 tonnes. While BHP has plans, some solid and some still on the drawing board, to expand Olympic Dam, hitting that target will involve the development of a number of new mines.
But the global demand for copper is there, and the potential lies within SA to find and produce more of the metal, which is integral to developing economies as they consume more power, cars and electrical goods.
And GFG Alliance is also planning to build a copper smelter in SA.
The state’s second copper boom could be in the making.
https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business ... bdaaee5a75
Re: #Official Mining Thread
Great Australian Bight seismic testing gets green light
Oil and gas testing is set to take place in the Great Australian Bight this year, after the national petroleum regulator granted permission to exploration company PGS.
Environmental groups have slammed the decision to allow seismic testing near Kangaroo Island and Port Lincoln, while the tuna industry has questioned whether it is even likely to go ahead.
Seismic testing involves firing soundwaves into the ocean floor to detect the presence of oil or gas reserves.
For oil companies, it is the first step to learning more about oil and gas resources beneath the ocean floor, and how they could be developed.
The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) granted permission for the testing to be done over a 30,100-square-kilometre area, located 80 kilometres from Port Lincoln and 90 kilometres west of Kangaroo Island.
The testing is set to take place between September and November.
The fishing industry has long had reservations about the impact seismic testing would have on the local tuna industry.
PGS has been ordered not to interfere with or displace pygmy blue whales, southern bluefin tuna, and southern right whales.
Southern Bluefin Tuna Industry Association spokesman Brian Jeffriess questioned if PGS would actually go ahead with the work, despite getting the green light.
"It's been approved but with such strict conditions on sightings for example of blue whales, of disruption to the pattern of southern bluefin migration," Mr Jeffriess said.
"It's impossible to see how it can proceed, economically."
The Wilderness Society has slammed the permit, saying the practice can deafen whales and even kill smaller marine animals.
"It's obvious that blasting massive amounts of noise constantly for months on end through a water column in a space where animals communicate and navigate and live by sound and sonar, it is obvious that this is going to have a terrible impact on those animals," the environmental group's Peter Owen said.
"I fail to see how you can actually approve this type of seismic activity in the middle of one of the most significant whale nurseries in the world.
"It's totally unacceptable."
The Greens say the seismic testing is the first step to drilling in the Great Australian Bight.
"Why on Earth would we be wanting to sink oil wells in the Great Australian Bight, put our marine life and beaches at risk and make climate change worse," senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.
"We've got to be getting out of fossil fuels and transitioning to a clean, green economy."
There has been little research into the impact of seismic testing in Australia, but Western Australian researchers have found noise from seismic air guns significantly increased mortality in scallops.
Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association spokesman Matthew Doman maintained testing is sustainable.
"We have a very long track record of conducting seismic in Australian waters without impact on the marine environment," he said.
"Our energy mix is changing, the role of renewable energy is increasing … our industry is very much a supporter of that.
"But we will use a lot of oil and a lot of gas for decades to come."
He said there had not been any wells drilled in the bight in the past 15 years.
cheers,
Rhino
Rhino
Re: #Official Mining Thread
Carrapateena gold-copper mine, north of Port Augusta, to be significantly powerd by renewables.
From Renew Economy
From Renew Economy
Copper and gold turns to renewables, OZ Minerals to power site with solar, wind and storage
Leading mining company OZ Minerals will use commercial scale solar PV, wind and battery storage to help power its Carrapeteena Copper-Gold Mine, located to the north of Port Augusta, as part of a significant shift in the mining sector towards using clean energy technologies to power remote mining operations.
OZ Minerals will partner with SunSHIFT to deploy a pilot-scale hydbrid energy system, that includes 250kW of solar PV capacity, a 10kW wind generator and a 250kW lithium ion battery storage system.
As part of the project, electric vehicle charging facilities for light vehicles used at the mine site will also be incorporated in to the renewables and storage solution. A traditional diesel generator unit will also be included to supplement the supply of power to the site.
Leading mining company OZ Minerals will use commercial scale solar PV, wind and battery storage to help power its Carrapeteena Copper-Gold Mine, located to the north of Port Augusta, as part of a significant shift in the mining sector towards using clean energy technologies to power remote mining operations.
OZ Minerals will partner with SunSHIFT to deploy a pilot-scale hydbrid energy system, that includes 250kW of solar PV capacity, a 10kW wind generator and a 250kW lithium ion battery storage system.
As part of the project, electric vehicle charging facilities for light vehicles used at the mine site will also be incorporated in to the renewables and storage solution. A traditional diesel generator unit will also be included to supplement the supply of power to the site.
The South Australian Government welcomed the announcement, and hopes that the project can serve as a model for future remote mining projects to integrate renewables and storage to supplement diesel powered generation.
“Low cost, reliable power is vital for our mining industry and this power plant will help forge the path to a cheaper and cleaner energy future,” SA energy minister van Holst Pellekaan said.
“The remote location of mines often means they operate completely off-grid and are heavily reliant on diesel-fuel powered generators.”
“OZ Minerals’ power plant will demonstrate the commercial value of a wind and solar PV asset at a remote mine site, and thereby enhancing the feasibility of mines in the development phase.”
Full article : https://reneweconomy.com.au/129887-2-67306/
Re: #Official Mining Thread
Oz Minerals on track for November production at Carrapateena
http://theleadsouthaustralia.com.au/ind ... rapateena/
http://theleadsouthaustralia.com.au/ind ... rapateena/
Re: #Official Mining Thread
From The Advertiser...
OZ Minerals’ Carrapateena mine produces first saleable copper
South Australia’s new, $980 million under-construction mine has produced its first saleable copper concentrate – a much-awaited milestone for OZ Minerals.
Valerina Changarathil, The Advertiser
December 20, 2019 12:16pm
SA miner OZ Minerals has produced first saleable copper concentrate at its under-construction Carrapateena mine, 160 kms north of Port Augusta.
The much-awaited milestone comes after OZ Minerals hit a production hurdle last month due to a ‘wrong part’ being supplied by a vendor.
That delay led to project development cost of Carrapateena at first concentrate to be upgraded to between $950 million and $980 million, instead of the previous $920-950 million.
However, achievement of the concentrate production milestone met the commitment made to the board when it first approved the project in August 2017.
Carrapateena is the second major project for OZ Minerals in SA, which currently owns and operates the Prominent Hill mine near Coober Pedy.
“Over 280,000 tonnes of development ore is stockpiled on the surface as the mine now enters a faster circa 12-month ramp-up towards reaching a 4.25 million tonne per annum throughput rate by the end of 2020, dependent upon the cave performing as expected.”
Shares rose more than two per cent to $10.88 in afternoon trading on Friday.
OZ Minerals chief executive Andrew Cole said the milestone “represents the collaboration, support and hard work of a great many people including our operations and construction teams and the large number of contractors involved.”
“The project has generated over 1000 direct jobs from construction through to production as well as many thousands of indirect benefits to South Australia,” Mr Cole said.
“Our key operational focus remains on underground development as we ramp-up the mine.
“The streamlined mine design with an expanded footprint will improve cave establishment, reduce risk during the ramp-up phase and may enable future annual throughput expansion opportunities as we continue to assess options to expand capacity above 4.25Mt annually.”
OZ Minerals is undertaking a block cave expansion scoping study to increase the life and production capacity of Carrapateena from 2025.
“Exploration also continues around Carrapateena to improve our understanding of the broader province potential,” Mr Cole said.
Production for 2020, as the ramp up progresses, is expected to be in the range of 20,000 to 25,000 tonnes of copper and 35,000 to 40,000 ounces of gold.
Longer term and more detailed guidance will be released with the fourth quarter report at the end of January.
Mining Minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan said the OZ team should be proud of their efforts.
“The scale of the mine, coupled with its remoteness is a testament to the women and men who have brought life this operation in such a short period of time.
“Oz Minerals with help from its construction partners and local community have delivered a safe and socially and environmentally responsible mining project that will deliver benefits for the South Australian economy for decades to come,” he said.
Re: #Official Mining Thread
Sorry to resurrect old thread;
The planets are aligning for Magnetite Mines
With growing global demand for green steel and a massive deposit of iron in the state’s northeast under its ownership, Magnetite Mines is on the edge of a huge opportunity.
The Razorback Iron Ore tenement is part of a magnetite deposit called the Braemar Iron Formation, which contains some 50 billion tonnes of the mineral.
It’s the centrepiece of South Australian mining company Magnetite Mines’ green steel ambitions. The tenement the listed company controls contains about 2 billion tonnes of mineable ore, and mineral resources at about 3.2 billion tonnes.
Razorback is untapped too. Though Magnetite Mines has owned the site since 2009, it won’t be until at least 2028 until production at the site commences.
That timeframe is ideal though, according to the company’s CEO Tim Dobson, who told InDaily a golden period for magnetite was incoming that would benefit not just the miner, but the state too.
Dobson is plotting a vision for the company that will see it be a major contributor to the state’s green iron future. By capitalising on investments being made into hydrogen production, Magnetite Mines hopes its iron reserves will be part of green steelmaking in South Australia, and exported to the world.
Recently, it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Port Pirie Council under which the pair will evaluate the potential of making the region a green iron production hub. The council said Port Pirie was a “natural fit for downstream processing of the abundant magnetite resources of the Braemar iron province”, which is near Magnetite’s Razorback Iron Ore project.
It has a similar MoU in place with the District Council of Peterborough, under which the company and the council will collaborate on projects that support local participation, shared infrastructure development and community engagement with the Razorback Iron Ore project.
Magnetite Mines is planning on mining magnetite at its Razorback project located just 240 kilometres northeast of Adelaide. Photo: Magnetite Mines.
The state government also appears keen on Magnetite Mines. At the Upper Spencer Gulf Major Economic Summit earlier this year, it was made clear that fast-tracking a new green iron industry in the state was of major importance to the Malinauskas Government, and the Braemar Iron Province should play a big role in the industry’s development.
Dobson said the company was on the verge of a new era as it moves to commence iron ore production at Razorback.
“It’s the last two years that things have fundamentally shifted in terms of the economic viability of the project,” he told InDaily.
“It’s in that period that the board has restructured completely, and sought to bring in new management and look for profiles such as mine to bring this project through to development.
“The planets have aligned in the last two years.”
Dobson was appointed CEO in 2022. Prior to that he was CEO of miner Heron Resources, senior vice president for Canadian miner Sherritt International Corporation, project executive at Southern Cross Goldfields and CEO at Anova Metals. In total, he has more than 35 years of experience in the mining industry and with major projects.
Global steelmaking is changing, he said, and the industry knows it needs to decarbonise. The steelmaking process is mostly coal-based, but with renewable-generated hydrogen the process can reduce its emissions significantly.
But very-high-grade iron ore is required for the hydrogen-driven steelmaking process, which is where Magnetite Mines’ huge deposit of magnetite comes in to play, he said.
“We’ve seen steelmakers within our region, particularly the Japanese and the Koreans – which are big steelmakers in our region – actively looking for a new supply chain into this new style of steelmaking,” Dobson said.
“The other thing that’s aligned up is government awareness of the changes that are needed and what it might mean.
“From an Australian lens, it’s an opportunity because we’ve got the things that are needed for that new technology which is renewable energy and lots of magnetite.”
The Magnetite Mines team at Razorback: Simon Smith CFO, Tim Dobson CEO, Gemma Brosnan GM External Affairs, Trevor Thomas Study Director. Photo: Supplied.
Dobson said Premier Malinauskas was “very aware” of this opportunity, and the government had “rightfully decided to take advantage of its renewable energy grid and its renewable energy resources – which are world-leading”.
“What’s the best way to take advantage of that? It’s to embed hydrogen in something we can export and sell, and green iron is the perfect example of that,” he said.
Timing is everything though, Dobson said, and he believes the decade from 2030-2040 will be a golden period for green steel.
That will require green steel demand to ramp up, and the company is watching carefully to see which companies in Japan and Korea are ordering electric arc furnaces required to produce the product, and will therefore need Magnetite Mines’ iron ore.
China is another nation on Dobson’s watchlist, which is a huge opportunity considering the nation produces more than 50 per cent of the world’s steel in-country.
Dobson also recently returned from the Middle East, where he saw appetite for green steel from Saudis who want to shift their industry away from oil over the next two to three decades.
“The combination of the money, the ability to make fast decisions which they have in the Middle East, and the massive amounts of natural gas means the Middle East will emerge as a front-runner in the growth of direct-reduced iron products,” he said.
“All of the steelmakers have an agenda to decarbonise by 2050 along with all other industries and the net zero aspirations of the world under the Paris Agreement.
“In the next five to 10 years we will see the deployment of capital that will lock in supply chain for those companies to meet those decarbonisation agendas.”
One of the major hurdles Magnetite Mines must still overcome is educating the public on the green steel opportunity for South Australia powered by hydrogen. The Malinauskas Government has the same issue too.
Dobson said coal was responsible for 80 per cent of steelmaking’s carbon footprint, and the industry is responsible for about 8 per cent of global emissions.
“That one step of reducing iron oxide to iron is the big culprit,” he said.
“This is where hydrogen can replace carbon and coal and solve that problem, and that’s really the education piece that’s missing.
“We need a lot of hydrogen to do it. That’s the education piece that I think hasn’t been well proffered.”
The planets are aligning for Magnetite Mines
With growing global demand for green steel and a massive deposit of iron in the state’s northeast under its ownership, Magnetite Mines is on the edge of a huge opportunity.
The Razorback Iron Ore tenement is part of a magnetite deposit called the Braemar Iron Formation, which contains some 50 billion tonnes of the mineral.
It’s the centrepiece of South Australian mining company Magnetite Mines’ green steel ambitions. The tenement the listed company controls contains about 2 billion tonnes of mineable ore, and mineral resources at about 3.2 billion tonnes.
Razorback is untapped too. Though Magnetite Mines has owned the site since 2009, it won’t be until at least 2028 until production at the site commences.
That timeframe is ideal though, according to the company’s CEO Tim Dobson, who told InDaily a golden period for magnetite was incoming that would benefit not just the miner, but the state too.
Dobson is plotting a vision for the company that will see it be a major contributor to the state’s green iron future. By capitalising on investments being made into hydrogen production, Magnetite Mines hopes its iron reserves will be part of green steelmaking in South Australia, and exported to the world.
Recently, it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Port Pirie Council under which the pair will evaluate the potential of making the region a green iron production hub. The council said Port Pirie was a “natural fit for downstream processing of the abundant magnetite resources of the Braemar iron province”, which is near Magnetite’s Razorback Iron Ore project.
It has a similar MoU in place with the District Council of Peterborough, under which the company and the council will collaborate on projects that support local participation, shared infrastructure development and community engagement with the Razorback Iron Ore project.
Magnetite Mines is planning on mining magnetite at its Razorback project located just 240 kilometres northeast of Adelaide. Photo: Magnetite Mines.
The state government also appears keen on Magnetite Mines. At the Upper Spencer Gulf Major Economic Summit earlier this year, it was made clear that fast-tracking a new green iron industry in the state was of major importance to the Malinauskas Government, and the Braemar Iron Province should play a big role in the industry’s development.
Dobson said the company was on the verge of a new era as it moves to commence iron ore production at Razorback.
“It’s the last two years that things have fundamentally shifted in terms of the economic viability of the project,” he told InDaily.
“It’s in that period that the board has restructured completely, and sought to bring in new management and look for profiles such as mine to bring this project through to development.
“The planets have aligned in the last two years.”
Dobson was appointed CEO in 2022. Prior to that he was CEO of miner Heron Resources, senior vice president for Canadian miner Sherritt International Corporation, project executive at Southern Cross Goldfields and CEO at Anova Metals. In total, he has more than 35 years of experience in the mining industry and with major projects.
Global steelmaking is changing, he said, and the industry knows it needs to decarbonise. The steelmaking process is mostly coal-based, but with renewable-generated hydrogen the process can reduce its emissions significantly.
But very-high-grade iron ore is required for the hydrogen-driven steelmaking process, which is where Magnetite Mines’ huge deposit of magnetite comes in to play, he said.
“We’ve seen steelmakers within our region, particularly the Japanese and the Koreans – which are big steelmakers in our region – actively looking for a new supply chain into this new style of steelmaking,” Dobson said.
“The other thing that’s aligned up is government awareness of the changes that are needed and what it might mean.
“From an Australian lens, it’s an opportunity because we’ve got the things that are needed for that new technology which is renewable energy and lots of magnetite.”
The Magnetite Mines team at Razorback: Simon Smith CFO, Tim Dobson CEO, Gemma Brosnan GM External Affairs, Trevor Thomas Study Director. Photo: Supplied.
Dobson said Premier Malinauskas was “very aware” of this opportunity, and the government had “rightfully decided to take advantage of its renewable energy grid and its renewable energy resources – which are world-leading”.
“What’s the best way to take advantage of that? It’s to embed hydrogen in something we can export and sell, and green iron is the perfect example of that,” he said.
Timing is everything though, Dobson said, and he believes the decade from 2030-2040 will be a golden period for green steel.
That will require green steel demand to ramp up, and the company is watching carefully to see which companies in Japan and Korea are ordering electric arc furnaces required to produce the product, and will therefore need Magnetite Mines’ iron ore.
China is another nation on Dobson’s watchlist, which is a huge opportunity considering the nation produces more than 50 per cent of the world’s steel in-country.
Dobson also recently returned from the Middle East, where he saw appetite for green steel from Saudis who want to shift their industry away from oil over the next two to three decades.
“The combination of the money, the ability to make fast decisions which they have in the Middle East, and the massive amounts of natural gas means the Middle East will emerge as a front-runner in the growth of direct-reduced iron products,” he said.
“All of the steelmakers have an agenda to decarbonise by 2050 along with all other industries and the net zero aspirations of the world under the Paris Agreement.
“In the next five to 10 years we will see the deployment of capital that will lock in supply chain for those companies to meet those decarbonisation agendas.”
One of the major hurdles Magnetite Mines must still overcome is educating the public on the green steel opportunity for South Australia powered by hydrogen. The Malinauskas Government has the same issue too.
Dobson said coal was responsible for 80 per cent of steelmaking’s carbon footprint, and the industry is responsible for about 8 per cent of global emissions.
“That one step of reducing iron oxide to iron is the big culprit,” he said.
“This is where hydrogen can replace carbon and coal and solve that problem, and that’s really the education piece that’s missing.
“We need a lot of hydrogen to do it. That’s the education piece that I think hasn’t been well proffered.”
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