Atlas Iron has hauled its first shipment of ore by road to Port Hedland, in Western Australia, from its new Sanjiv Ridge operation in four brand new pink trucks.

After announcing the first ore crushed earlier this month, the Hancock Prospecting owned company reached this new milestone this week.

Some 4-5 Mt/y of iron ore lump and fines is to be hauled by road to the Utah Point stockyard, which will add 5-6 years to the Atlas value chain, the company says. It comes with 64 Mt at 57.2% Fe of mineral resources and 29 Mt at 57% Fe reserves.

Sanjiv Manchanda, Atlas Iron CEO, said: “I’m so proud of our team of Atlas staff and our contracting partners, MGM Bulk, MACA and CSI for working so tirelessly to ensure we surpassed our project targets. It’s always a team effort, and our small team certainly knows how to get things done safely, efficiently and with agility to get a win-win outcome.

“I also take this opportunity to thank our partners MGM Bulk and CSI Mining (a Mineral Resources Ltd subsidiary) who painted their four brand new trucks and crusher, which were used today and for the duration of the project, a striking pink colour in recognition of our Group and Executive Chairman’s commitment to supporting breast cancer research and improving patient care. These pink trucks now add to a large amount of mining infrastructure in the Pilbara now pink, including trains, ships, processing plants, crushers and mining trucks.”