Sinosteel Midwest commences mining at Koolanooka

The milestone comes after the finalisation of the approvals process with the Department of Mines and Petroleum, which includes a review of the environmental and project management plans.
Sinosteel Midwest is aiming to ship its first hematite ore from Koolanooka by early July. The company has been shipping low-grade ore belonging to the Shire of Morawa blended with its own stocks since January. This has allowed it to get the logistics processes of haulage, storage and ship-loading well established ahead of the start of full-scale mining.
“Our site workforce, which is made up of 70 people, launched into action on Friday immediately following the finalisation of approvals, and we are all very excited to finally move into full-scale operations,” said Sinosteel Midwest COO Giulio Casello.
“We look forward to more than five years of safe and productive operation at Koolanooka and Blue Hills, and sharing the benefits of this project with local communities.”
Already the project has seen new contracts commence and additional trade for local businesses, including Geraldton Toyota, Giacci Port Services, Patience Bulk Haulage, Cunningham’s Earthmoving, Geraldton Fuels and ML Communications.
At peak capacity Koolanooka/Blue Hills will produce up to 1.5 million tonnes of hematite ore a year. This will provide Sinosteel Midwest with cash flow and operating expertise as it seeks to develop its much larger Weld Range project.
“It is fitting that as we look forward to celebrating shipping the first Koolanooka ore mid-year as we will also be finalising our Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) for our major project at Weld Range,” Casello said.
The Weld Range project will be a cornerstone customer for the proposed Oakajee port and rail infrastructure and is expected to produce 15 million tonnes per annum over 15 years. The project should be ready for production by late 2013 however is reliant on the timeline of the development of the rail and port.