Tag Archives: Iron ore

Rio Tinto and Dalian Port Company sign iron ore blending MoU

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Rio Tinto and Dalian Port Company Ltd have signed a memorandum of understanding that could lead to the development of the miner’s first iron ore blending operation in a bonded area.

The joint development within Dalian port, in China, will blend material to create Rio Tinto Blend Fines from Rio’s high-grade IOC concentrate from Canada and its SP10 from Western Australia. This blend has been a success with customers in China, Rio says.

“The partnership with Dalian Port to blend within a bonded area allows Rio Tinto to offer this product to customers across Asia, using Dalian Port as a trans-shipment hub,” it said. “Establishing portside capabilities at Dalian Port will also allow Rio Tinto to serve portside customers in Northern China.”

Simon Farry, Rio’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Iron Ore, said: “We are very pleased to be working with Dalian Port to establish blending capabilities within the bonded area. Dalian’s location, blending capabilities and willingness to support this initiative makes Dalian Port the right partner for us.

“Establishing a transhipment hub in China, which allows us to offer new blended products in other Asian markets, will enhance our ability to deliver quality and consistent products, and provide innovative solutions to meet our customers’ needs.”

Rio Tinto portside trading operations were established to sell Rio Tinto iron ore directly from Chinese ports. Portside trading of iron ore is transacted in RMB, which allows Rio Tinto to serve new customers who do not participate in the seaborne market, it says.

Alltype Engineering goes modular for Rio Koodaideri iron ore plant deliveries

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WestStar Industrial Ltd’s engineering contractor business, Alltype Engineering, is to help build an iron ore mine plant at the Rio Tinto-owned Koodaideri project in the Pilbara of Western Australia, thanks to a contract award from Laing O’Rourke.

The Phase 1 Structural, Mechanical, and Piping package for the mine plant comes with a value of around A$6 million ($4.4 million) for fabrication works plus associated modularisation scopes, WestStar says.

The execution plan developed by Laing O’Rourke, the managing contractor, is based upon substantial preassembly and modularisation of the structural steel elements at Alltype’s Naval Base facility, in Western Australia (pictured). The contract win takes immediate effect with delivery and install dates up to January 2021, it said.

“The works to be performed leverage off the core competencies of the company with similar delivery strategies utilised for oil and gas, petrochemical and infrastructure projects in the past,” WestStar said.

Koodaideri is a greenfield mine development, around 35 km northwest of the Yandicoogina mine in the East Pilbara mining region. The mine will initially be developed as a nominal 43 Mt/y high-grade, dry processing operation. First production is expected in late 2021.

WestStar acquired Alltype Engineering last year in a deal that involved an upfront payment of around A$5.9 million, along with a deferred consideration subject to Alltype achieving its 2020 financial year targets.

Alltype Engineering Managing Director, Kelvin Andrijich, said: “Alltype Engineering undertook a significant strategic shift in direction in 2017, focusing on multi-discipline construction solutions, technology partnerships with OEMs and leveraging off the well-established industry exposure developed over 35 years of operation. This strategy continues to unfold with our established local fabrication capability and by building upon successive projects delivered of increasing scale and complexity with existing and new clients.

“The support of our new owner, WestStar Industrial, allows the group to execute larger contracts previously constrained by working capital, as well as start to expand the operational footprint to the east coast of Australia where there is further market opportunity for this offering.”

TNG and SMS to investigate hydrogen use for Mount Peake project

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TNG Ltd is participating in a ground-breaking project with its German-based strategic engineering partner, SMS group, which could lead to the production of a carbon-neutral product from its Mount Peake vanadium-titanium-iron project in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Under the agreement, TNG will partner with SMS to develop technology to produce green hydrogen from various renewable, secondary or fossil hydrocarbon sources by means of plasma pyrolysis.

SMS, TNG says, is already advanced in its understanding of such technology and will manage all development activities and, specifically, apply the technology to TNG’s TIVAN® Process (plant layout above).

The TIVAN process, developed by the two companies and Perth, Australia-based metallurgical consultants METS and the CSIRO, has been primarily designed for hydro-metallurgical extraction of vanadium, preferably as vanadium pentoxide, from a titanomagnetite orebody and also for separating the titanium and iron, preferably as ferric oxide and titanium dioxide.

SMS is to provide a fully detailed development program in support of the specific resourcing required from both parties under the agreement, TNG says.

The plasma pyrolysis technology, which consumes roughly one-third of the electricity required to produce the same amount of hydrogen by electrolysis of water, could be the preferred reduction agent for TNG’s TIVAN Process, marking an important step in the company’s roadmap towards achieving a net zero carbon footprint for TIVAN, TNG said.

“The technology also has the potential to be applied for the production of hydrogen and syngas from various fossil, biogenic and waste materials, opening up additional potential business opportunities for TNG and SMS in the fast-growing space of the hydrogen and e-fuels economy, and outside the company’s proposed core titanium-vanadium-iron business,” it added.

A by-product of this process is anticipated to be highly-pure carbon black powder, which currently sells at approximately $1,000/t. Possibilities to produce graphene and/or carbon nanotubes from this powder will also be investigated in parallel by SMS.

Mount Peake is currently expected to process ore through a 2 Mt/y plant to produce 700,000 t/y of magnetite concentrate, which could then be turned into 100,000 t/y of titanium dioxide, 6,000 t/y of vanadium pentoxide and 500,000 t/y of iron oxide fines.

The agreement is not expected to impact the front-end engineering and design (FEED) study completion and delivery of the turnkey engineering, procurement and construction proposal from SMS.

TNG said: “The company’s primary focus remains on progression and completion of the remaining engineering and design work streams for the Mount Peake project, including the current FEED study. The hydrogen technology development program will be progressed in parallel, and, subject to confirmation of technical and commercial feasibility and integration with project development planning, has potential application for further optimisation of the Mount Peake project.”

TNG’s Managing Director & CEO, Paul Burton, said: “There is a huge amount of momentum globally moving towards a hydrogen-based economy, and this is an exciting opportunity for TNG while at the same time has the potential to move our TIVAN Process towards carbon-neutral which is important as we continue on our pathway to secure TNG’s position as a sustainable metals producer.

“We believe that being able to use a carbon-neutral product in our patented TIVAN process will be a further significant advantage to TNG in relation to other competing technologies used for the extraction of high-quality titanium, vanadium and iron products from titanomagnetite ores, sands and slags.”

SMS’ Senior Vice President of Strategic Project Development, Herbert Weissenbaeck, said: “From SMS’ perspective, the future of the metallurgical industry will rely on low-cost renewable electrical energy, as well as carbon-neutral means of energy transport and storage. Hydrogen, being a very efficient and carbon-free reduction agent, is thus obviously in the focus of many of our ongoing R&D efforts.

“Co-developing our plasma pyrolysis technology with TNG, which could reap immediate benefits in the form of effectively decarbonising TIVAN, is an exciting next step towards green, H2-based metallurgy, and we are looking forward to jointly turning it into industrial reality at TNG’s Darwin processing plant, soon.”

Capstone Mining eyes Santo Domingo IOCG project capex cuts with PASA MoU

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Capstone Mining’s 70%-owned subsidiary Minera Santo Domingo (MSD) has entered into an agreement that could see it slash some $400 million off the capital cost for building its Santo Domingo copper-iron-gold project, in Chile’s Region III, by offloading the port and concentrate transport infrastructure development to another company.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Puerto Abierto SA (PASA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Puerto Ventanas SA (also a subsidiary of Sigdo Koppers SA) will see both MSD and PASA, over a 90-day period, explore mutual synergies and regional benefits for the proposed port component of the Santo Domingo project, Puerto Santo Domingo.

The port, which is fully permitted and located 100 km from the Santo Domingo project site, will be one of only two capesize vessel ports in the region, making it an attractive site for bulk shipments and a key asset allowing for broad resource development in Region III, Capstone says.

Santo Domingo is owned 70% by Capstone and 30% by Korea Resources Corp. A February 2020 technical report outlined an 18-year operation with a life of mine average throughput of 60,500 t/d for annual output of 137 Mlb (62,142 t) of copper, 4.2 Mt of iron ore and 17,000 oz of gold at the project. Development capital for this study came in at $1.51 billion (excluding cobalt processing).

As part of the MoU, MSD will allow PASA to study, at its own cost, the project engineering and conduct a market study over the 90-day period.

PASA is looking to potentially acquire, construct, operate and maintain the deep-water port, including financing its development, Capstone said. Once in operation, Santo Domingo will receive preferred service as its volumes will represent  a baseload of business for the port.

The MOU also gives PASA 90 days to evaluate the replacement of the 110 km magnetite concentrate pipeline with a railway as part of its rail business, Ferrocarril del Pacifico SA.

The project infrastructure under consideration in this MoU represents some $400 million of the capital expenditure identified in the most recent technical report, Capstone says, and includes:

  • Marine works including pier;
  • Iron concentrate pipeline from Santo Domingo mine to port;
  • Magnetite filter plant and stockpile building;
  • Copper storage building; and
  • Ship loading and support facilities.

“Over the past three months we have seen a surge in interest in our fully permitted Santo Domingo project,” Darren Pylot, President and CEO of Capstone, said. “I believe this relationship with Puerto Ventanas will serve as a major catalyst for our Santo Domingo project. Our path forward includes successful culmination of the strategic sales process, executing a gold stream agreement and arranging project debt financing.”

Dr Albert Garcia, VP, Projects at Capstone, said the partnership with PASA, coupled with the fixed cost, turnkey proposal from POSCO E&C, significantly “de-risks” the overall project.

Kwatani collaborating with EPCMs, miners on bespoke screening options

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Mineral process plant designs are favouring higher-capacity vibrating screens and a more holistic approach to plant optimisation, according to screen specialist Kwatani.

“These trends hold great potential for the mining sector, and Kwatani has been at the forefront of technologies driving this direction,” Annelize van der Walt, Kwatani’s Business Development Manager for Mining and Minerals, says.

Vibrating screens are essentially the “glue” that integrates various unit processes, from bulk materials handling to optimally liberated comminution and pre-concentration, according to the company.

“Larger, engineered-for-tonnage screens are growing in popularity, as they reduce the number of processing modules and hence the level of infrastructure required, especially on mega-projects,” van der Walt says. “Higher capacity is becoming the new design standard for greenfields projects.”

There is also an ever-greater demand for reliability and uptime in these mission-critical machines, as well as an expectation of longer lifespans. All this requires bespoke solutions that address site-specific conditions, van der Walt says, while leveraging digital technology for real-time monitoring and control.

“Kwatani’s metallurgists and engineers use their extensive on-site experience and in-house laboratory facilities to innovate from our proven technologies,” she says. “A cornerstone of our philosophy is close collaboration with engineering, procurement and construction management contractors and end-customers to customise solutions, from concept to construction, commissioning and operation.”

Annelize van der Walt, Kwatani’s Business Development Manager for Mining and Minerals

Specific conditions include waterless beneficiation in arid Mauritania, where Kwatani’s screens operate completely dry in an iron ore plant. In South Africa and Botswana, meanwhile, the company has retrofitted dewatering screens to reduce water consumption, while increasing output by 40% with the same footprint.

“We also recently designed screens for exceptional ore characteristics in a precious metal beneficiation facility in Canada,” she said. “This required a high level of customisation, not only in the screening media but in the mechanical design.”

Remote mine locations – which are difficult to access for maintenance and replacement purposes – also guide the design parameters. In a recent project, Kwatani innovated by selecting special hard-wearing materials for the construction of the screening equipment. The design included components that would provide early warning of wear.

Embracing a more holistic plant design approach, customers often invite Kwatani to participate in optimising the screening side of their chosen beneficiation technology, van der Walt says. A different screening approach would be taken, for instance, in a dry pre-concentration application than in wet dense medium separation.

“This holistic approach is also facilitating greater synergy between original equipment manufacturers,” she says. “This is a very positive trend, allowing us to consider the impact of different equipment on the performance of each – from mineral processing apparatus to transfer chutes.”

Underpinning Kwatani’s responsiveness to customer’s specific needs is its ongoing research and development.

“Our R&D unit is currently working on projects to suit our designs to novel crushing and grinding technologies, which are changing the whole approach to the process flow of future plants,” van der Walt says. “These are significant innovations for the mining sector, and we are excited to be at the forefront with our evolving screen designs.”

Kwatani is incorporating digital technologies to facilitate remote monitoring and control of its vibrating screens. It is also piloting a service app for mobile phones, which helps operations predict their maintenance needs more accurately. The app also helps to drive down the total cost of ownership by gathering data that can be used in future design improvements.

Decmil captures NPI contract at Iron Bridge Magnetite project

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Decmil Group says it has been awarded a circa-A$41 million ($30 million) contract to undertake non-mining process infrastructure works at the Iron Bridge Magnetite project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Construction is scheduled to commence in September 2020 and be completed by May 2021.

Under the scope of works, Decmil will design and construct a bulk fuel storage and transfer facility, a mobile maintenance complex, including workshops, warehouses and related satellite office and site services facilities.

The bulk fuel storage and transfer facility will provide a refuelling facility for heavy vehicles, while the mobile maintenance complex includes a heavy vehicle workshop that incorporates locker storage, tool storage and an administration area, Decmil said.

The $2.6 billion Iron Bridge Magnetite project, owned by Fortescue Metals Group subsidiary FMG Iron Bridge Ltd and Formosa Steel IB, is expected to see a new magnetite mine developed to support production of 22 Mt/y of high grade concentrate, according to Fortescue. First concentrate is expected to be produced by mid-2022.

Decmil’s agreement is the latest in a stream of contracts the JV has issued recently, including the award of a wet processing plant build to CPB Contractors, a civils contract awarded to Civmec to build the structural concrete components for the dry plant at the project, and PROK’s contract for the design, manufacture and supply of conveyor pulleys at Iron Bridge.

Decmil CEO, Dickie Dique, said the company was delighted to secure works at one of Australia’s most significant mining projects.

“Crucially, this award at such a major project enhances our credentials to potentially secure more work in a resurgent iron ore and magnetite sector,” Dique said.

PROK sets its sights on Pilbara iron ore sector with Newman service centre

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Global conveyor components OEM PROK has opened a new specialist conveyor service centre in Newman, Western Australia, to provide local conveyor solutions and products to the Pilbara region.

As one of the largest manufacturers of conveyor idlers and pulleys in the world, the opening of PROK Pilbara is a major milestone and provides the opportunity to be closer to key iron ore operations, the company said.

PROK recently held a grand opening event at the new workshop attended by around 60 people including customers and representatives from the local community.

Speaking at the event, PROK Business Unit Manager – Technical Services, Arun Bangalore, said the new facility means customers will have access to expert conveyor solutions right on their doorstep.

“The opening of PROK Pilbara means we will be even more agile to customer requests with quicker turnaround times, local support and access to the best engineers and technicians in the market,” he said.

“With so many mine sites located in and around Newman, it was the perfect location and it makes sense for us to be located here with our customers.”

The workshop is fully equipped for pulley refurbishment, general fabrication and fitting services and provides mining companies with access to local expert technical specialists and engineering support.

The 4,000 sq.m site also includes pulley testing equipment, including vibration analysis testing and dynamic balancing, providing customers with access to the latest in condition monitoring technology, PROK said.

“Mining companies no longer need to send their equipment to Perth, they now have a local engineering workshop that offers everything they need to optimise their conveyor system,” Bangalore added.

As well as providing expert conveyor solutions, PROK will have a big focus on directly contributing to the local Pilbara community.

“Supporting the local community and customers is a key pillar of PROK Pilbara’s strategy and we see major benefits including creating employment opportunities, engaging with local suppliers, providing support to community groups, local charities and sporting groups and executing the PROK Indigenous Engagement Program,” Bangalore said.

GWR’s Wiluna West iron ore project heads for production with PRG contract

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GWR Group says it has reached agreement on key terms for a works contract with the Pilbara Resource Group Pty Ltd (PRG) to undertake the development of Stage 1 of the C4 iron deposit, part of the Wiluna West iron ore project, in Western Australia.

As part of this agreement, PRG will carry out agreed works for development, mining and transport of Stage 1 of the C4 deposit, including construction of the haul road, open pit and other required facilities and infrastructure, surveying, mining, crushing, screening and transport to port based on a schedule of rates to be agreed. PRG will be entitled to a 30% share of the profit from Stage 1 of the C4 iron deposit.

GWR, meanwhile, will undertake mine design, planning and optimisation for Stage 1 of the C4 iron deposit.

GWR Chairman, Gary Lyons, said the execution of a term sheet for development of the deposit was very significant for GWR shareholders and, together with the recently announced mining approvals, represents a major milestone for the company, “paving the way for the commencement of commercial iron ore production at the Wiluna West iron ore project”.

He added: “The Wiluna West iron ore project, an exceptional direct shipping ore (DSO) iron ore development project, will produce a high grade, low impurity iron ore.”

Scott Dryland, Managing Director of the PRG, said: “This project has added to a record year for PRG. Our business has gone from strength to strength and we are extremely happy to have the opportunity to deliver this project in partnership with GWR.”

The C4 iron deposit is 1.4 km long and contains a combined DSO hematite, JORC 2004 mineral resource estimate of 21.6 Mt at 60.7% Fe, comprising 18.5 Mt at 61.2% Fe indicated and 3.1 Mt at 58% Fe inferred. It has widths of DSO hematite mineralisation of up to 120 m with close spaced RC drilling having previously been undertaken on a 25 m by 10 m spacing over a strike length of 200 m, according to GWR.

The C4 Stage 1 project targets a 500 m strike length of outcropping high-grade DSO hematite mineralisation within the larger C4 deposit, with GWR having undertaken internal mine designs and scheduling.

GWR says it has been engaging with the Port of Geraldton and current users for port and shed access and continues to investigate other opportunities. Discussions are ongoing and well advanced with a nearby established mine in the Wiluna area for access to site services such as village, workshops and water, it added.

In line with the term sheet, GWR and PRG will negotiate a formal contract documentation including a works contract as soon as possible.

Fortescue Metals granted approval to expand iron ore capacity at Herb Elliott

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Fortescue Metals Group says it has received approval from authorities to increase the material handling capacity of its Herb Elliott Port facility, in Western Australia, from 175 Mt/y to 210 Mt/y on a staged basis.

The approval, under the West Australian Environmental Protection Act 1986, includes provisions for 188 Mt/y of hematite ore and 22 Mt/y of magnetite concentrate. The high-grade magnetite product will be produced from the Iron Bridge magnetite operations, with first ore on ship from Iron Bridge scheduled for mid-2022.

The revised licence uses the capacity of Fortescue’s existing port infrastructure, comprising five berths and three ship loaders, and supports its 2021 financial year iron ore shipments guidance of 175-180 Mt.

Chief Executive Officer, Elizabeth Gaines, said: “Fortescue’s port operations are world leading and we have continually demonstrated our capacity to optimise the efficiency and productivity of our port infrastructure to deliver iron ore to our customers.

“The increase in the licensed capacity of Fortescue’s Herb Elliott Port from 175 Mt/y to 210 Mt/y is in line with our strategy to deliver growth through investment, including the $2.6 billion investment in the Iron Bridge project. This significant project will deliver 22 Mt/y of high-grade magnetite product, enhancing the range of products available to our customers through our flexible integrated operations and marketing strategy.

“We will continue to ensure that Fortescue remains a significant long-term contributor to the state and national economies through growth and development of our iron ore assets, job creation and investment.”

Fortescue says it maintains a high level of vigilance over its management of dust in Port Hedland, with installation and implementation of additional controls ensuring no net increase in dust emissions as a result of the progressive increase in throughput capacity at Herb Elliott.

Vale leverages Contour platform for first iron ore blockchain trade

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Vale says it has completed its first sale of iron ore using blockchain technology with Nanjing Iron & Steel Group International Trade Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Nanjing Iron and Steel Co Ltd (NISCO).

The transaction, for a cargo of 176,000 t of Brazilian Blend Fines from Teluk Rubiah Maritime Terminal, in Malaysia, to China, is aligned with Vale’s strategy of becoming a more “innovative and customer-centred company” through greater integration with clients and partnering for the development of new solutions, it said.

“It is an important milestone towards the digitalisation of the sales and trade process, bringing innovation to the traditional paper-intensive trade transactions and offering a better service to the clients as well as predictability in the steel value chain,” Vale said.

The Letter of Credit was issued through the Contour blockchain platform while the shipping documents and the electronic Bill of Lading were handled via essDOCS’ CargoDocs solution – with all actions carried out through a single, interfaced platform consolidated in Contour. The transaction also had support from DBS Bank Ltd and Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad.

“The integrated transaction enabled end-to-end security and transparency with real-time visibility of the documentation to all stakeholders, drastically reducing the amount of emails and paperwork exchanged among the parties and providing enhanced user experience through access to a single solution to execute the trade,” Vale said.