Australian iron ore miner IronClad Mining Limited and Gawler Ranges native title claim group in Port Augusta last week signed a native title mining agreement, which opens the way for the development of IronClad Mining's Wilcherry Hill iron ore project on Eyre Peninsula, South Australia.
According to a company statement, the agreement provides for a range of measures and opportunities that will flow from the development of a mining operation at Wilcherry Hill in a manner sensitive to Aboriginal cultural and heritage issues.
Development of the Wilcherry Hill iron ore project, 120 kilometers west of Whyalla, is scheduled to begin production with stage 1 commencing next year. It will be one of the first iron ore export operations in the world to ship high quality, high grade crystalline magnetite as direct shipping ore. IronClad is currently finalizing a definitive feasibility study for the production of up to 2 million mt a year.