On December 13, Australian iron ore miner IMX Resources Limited has announced the loading of the first shipment from the Cairn Hill iron ore/copper mine at Port Adelaide, Australia.
The first shipment of approximately 62,500 mt of Cairn Hill iron and copper ore is being loaded onto the ‘Genco Leader' in Port Adelaide and is expected to sail early next week for Yingkou in Liaoning Province in China.
The second shipment is anticipated for late January, so that the vessel arrives in China after the Chinese New Year. At full production Cairn Hill will be shipping ore at the rate of approximately two vessels per month or approximately 1.7 million mt per year.
IMX managing director Duncan McBain said, "This is a very important milestone for IMX and is the culmination of a lot of hard work over a number of years."
The mine, located near Coober Pedy, South Australia, is expected to export about 1.7 million metric tons of ore a year via Port Adelaide when it is completed. The mine currently has inferred and indicated resources of 11.4 million metric tons, at 49.5 percent iron, 0.4 percent copper and 0.1 percent gold.