Fire halts Koolan Island processing
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – A fire at the Koolan Island crushing plant has prompted ASX-listed Mount Gibson Iron to temporarily suspend processing activities at the site, however, the company said on Tuesday that mining of high-grade iron-ore from the Koolan main pit continued as planned.
The fire occurred on August 12 in the product sizing screen area within the Koolan Island crushing plant during a scheduled maintenance shutdown. All personnel working in the area were evacuated and there were no injuries.
The fire was subsequently extinguished and an initial assessment indicates that the fire has damaged part of the product sizing screen assembly and associated feeder and conveyor equipment. Assessment of surrounding steel structures is underway.
Mount Gibson told shareholders that a preliminary plan is being developed to process and ship ore at up to approximately 40% of the plant capacity from late August for an interim period. This could be further increased through the use of available mobile crushing units while repairs are undertaken.
The company said that the fire within the Koolan Island process screening plant circuit will temporarily slow the site’s operational and financial improvement trajectory but is recoverable. With the improvements already realised to date, the mining of high-grade ore continues to increase with the waste-to-ore stripping ratio declining as scheduled, and the site will be well positioned to recover the deferred shipments once processing capacity returns to planned levels.
Meanwhile, Mount Gibson on Tuesday flagged a non-cash impairment of A$150-million before tax on the Koolan Island assets, based on the recent lower iron-ore prices.
This is in addition to the previously recorded accounting writedown of A$37-million relating to the suspended Shine iron-ore project in the December 2021 half-year.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest News
Showroom
AxFlow AQS Liquid Transfer (Pty) Ltd is an Importer and Distributor of Pumps in Southern Africa
VISIT SHOWROOM
Since 1919, Victaulic’s innovative solutions and design services continue to increase construction productivity and reduce risk, ensuring projects...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
