Page 64 - Minesite 2011

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THE HEART AT JACKHILLS
ANDY CARUSO
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
CROSSLANDS RESOURCES LTD
The challenges of opening up the economic potential of WA’s
mid-west region continue to be worked through by companies
and governments alike, and the big-picture issue of providing an
adequate infrastructure within acceptable timeframes through the
Oakajee Port and Rail (OPR) project continues to receive close media
attention. Notwithstanding the vital importance of these large-scale
strategic issues, there are plenty of on-the-ground operational
matters that also demand a miner’s innovative thinking and focused
attention. In the case of Crosslands, one such protagonist was under
the ground, in the form of a protected species of Trapdoor spider.
Here CEO Andy Caruso describes how Crosslands Resources’
study of the spider won last year’s Golden Gecko award for
environmental excellence. It also illustrates the company’s solutions-
based approach to the many issues it tackles as its Jack Hills mine
expansion plan progresses, and thereby the company’s vision to
become the mid-west region’s leading iron ore exporter.
Crosslands Resources Ltd (Crosslands),
jointly financed by ASX-listed Murchison
Metals Ltd and Mitsubishi Development
Pty Ltd (a subsidiary of Japan’s Mitsubishi
Corporation), owns and operates the
Jack Hills iron ore mine located in the
mid-west region of Western Australia,
380 kilometres north-east of Geraldton.
Originally explored in the 1970s, the
project tenements contain a number of
potential ore bodies characterised by high
iron content direct shipping ores (DSO) and
lower grade banded iron formations with
lenses of enriched hematite and magnetite.
In February 2007 the first shipment of
high grade DSO lump and fines was mined,
crushed and screened on-site before being
transported 640 kilometres by road to
Geraldton’s port for export. Since then,
the Jack Hills mine has shipped more than
6 million tonnes (Mt) to steel mills in
China, Japan and South Korea.
The current operations at Jack Hills constitute Stage 1 of a
two-phase strategy, with Stage 2 comprising a planned tenfold
increase in production, called the Jack Hills Expansion Project
(JHEP). The company’s feasibility study, released mid-2011,
outlined the commercial, technical and operational viability for
the mine’s expansion, which actually comprises two deposits:
Jack Hills and Brindal. When combined, the Jack Hills project
presently ranks as the largest iron ore resource in the region,
with an in situ mineral resource of 3.23 billion tonnes @ 32.3% Fe,
67% of which is in the Measured and Indicated JORC categories.
Jack Hills is expected to have a total mine life of 39 years, and
production is expected to increase from the current 1.8 million
wet tonnes per annum (Mwtpa) to 23.4 Mwtpa for the first
ten years.
Successful transition to JHEP is contingent on the development
of transport infrastructure, including the planned deepwater
port at Oakajee north of Geraldton, and 570 kilometres of heavy
haulage railway linking mid-west miners to world markets. The
port, with its initial capacity of 45 Mtpa, will open the region to
international customers by enabling 180,000 tonne Cape Class
vessels, and at the time of writing Crosslands and other mid-west
miners were negotiating supply chain agreements with OPR.
JHEP, scheduled to start in 2015, will effectively see
Crosslands realise its vision of becoming the region’s leading
iron ore exporter, and with that will come more involvement,
through employment and expanded operations, with the local
people, community and environment. Already the company’s
management, staff and contractors maintain a keen focus on
the long-term growth and prosperity of the mid-west, and the
company runs its
@ Heart community support program
, which
provides financial support for local education and training,
indigenous programs, support services and healthcare.
Crosslands is using its current Stage 1 operations to lay its
growth foundations through strong relations and industry best
practice. Heritage teams, for example, reflect the company’s
genuine commitment to ensuring positive outcomes for all by
consulting widely with traditional owners, and surveying with
them the proposed gas pipeline route and project footprint.
Crosslands is now in the process of finalising its mining
STAGE 1 MINING OPERATIONS AT JACK HILLS
Australia’s next iron ore region
MINESITE 2011
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