Major Australia-based coal producer Xstrata Plc has announced that it will start exporting iron ore concentrate to Asian buyers from Australia on Wednesday as part of an AU$589 million (US$626 million) redesign of its Ernest Henry copper and gold mine, as Reuters has reported.
Exports of the magnetite-type material at a rate of 1.2 million mt a year are a key component of Xstrata's plan to transform the Ernest Henry mine from an open-cut design to an underground one, the company stated.
Magnetite, which accounts for just one percent of Australia's total iron ore production, has lower iron content (around 36 percent) and must be upgraded to pellet form to make it suitable for steelmaking.