CITIC Limited and its subsidiaries Sino Iron Pty Ltd and Korean Steel Pty Ltd have commenced legal proceedings in the Australian Federal Court against Mineralogy Pty Ltd and Clive Palmer to compel the approval and submission of proposals critical to the operation of the Sino Iron magnetite project, which is located 100km south west of Karratha.
With all six processing lines now commissioned and more than 50 million wet metric tonnes of concentrate shipped since 2013, Sino Iron has reached a stage where further approvals are required to permit mining and processing operations to continue. Additional sub-lease tenure is also required for project infrastructure, including areas to accommodate necessary expansion of waste rock and tailings storage facilities.
CITIC has prepared proposals setting out the activities at the proposed expanded project area (the Mine Continuation Proposals). Yet, Mineralogy has withheld its approval for the Mine Continuation Proposals and declined to join with CITIC subsidiaries in submitting the proposals to the state, despite repeated requests from CITIC since 2016.
On Friday, October 19, CITIC Pacific Mining Chief Executive Officer Chen Zeng said that it’s their firm view that Mineralogy’s ongoing failure and refusal to submit the proposals and take the other steps requested of it has caused, is causing and will continue to cause loss and damage to CITIC subsidiaries.
“Initially this has led to significant increased costs in planning, developing and operating the project. The ultimate effect will be a substantial reduction in the scope of operations of the project. It may result in the suspension of those operations,” Mr Zeng explained.
“We’re taking this action in the interests of shareholders, our dedicated local workforce and vendors and the wider Western Australian community,” he said, “having achieved so much, we’re committed to doing everything possible to secure the project’s long-term future.”
With a direct and indirect workforce of close to 3000 people, Sino Iron is considered to be the largest seaborne supplier of high-grade magnetite iron ore concentrate to China – pioneering a new downstream processing industry for Australia.
More information on the Sino Iron Project can be found here.
