Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN) (“MRL” or the “Company”) today presented its Quarterly Exploration and Mining Activities Report for the period to 31 March 2021.
Q3 KEY POINTS
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Safety performance continued to improve, with a 12-month rolling Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) maintained at zero and a Total Reportable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR) of 2.39 at March 2021. This represents an improvement of 13% over the quarter.
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Mining Services production volumes for the quarter was consistent with the prior corresponding period (Q3 FY20) (pcp) and in-line with expectations.
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Iron ore shipments totalled 4.1 million wet metric tonnes (wmt), consistent with Q2 FY21 and up over 51% on pcp. During the past six months MRL has produced 10.1m wmt but have shipped 8.5m wmt. MRL has experienced haulage constraints caused by a shortage of truck drivers resulting from the unplanned sudden state border closures, implemented following COVID-19 outbreaks around the country. This shortage has meant that, on average, hauling capacity of approximately 10,000 wmt per day otherwise available to MRL was sitting idle. FY21 guidance of 19.5m wmt to 20.5m wmt was based on an expected increase in shipments aligning with production. It is not clear when these haulage issues will be resolved and, therefore, iron ore shipment guidance for FY21 is now expected to be in the 17.4m to 18.0m wmt range.
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Total iron ore production during the quarter of 4.9m wmt was consistent with Q2 FY21 and up more than 44% on pcp, in line with mine plans. Crushed iron ore stockpiles on site at 31 March 2021 increased 1.3m wmt to 1.4m wmt since 30 June 2020.
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The average realised iron ore price was US$144.8 per dry metric tonne (dmt), which is 5% higher than the previous quarter.
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The first iron ore shipments from the 5mtpa Wonmunna Iron Ore Mine commenced during the quarter, following the safe and rapid development of the mine.
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During the quarter, MRL commissioned three crushing plants, including a NextGen 2 plant at Mount Whaleback, the Wonmunna plant and another at a third-party site. The combined capacity of these plants is 31mtpa.
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In March 2021, MRL was awarded two highly prospective gas exploration permits in the Perth and Northern Carnarvon Basins. The award of these permits aligns with MRL’s strategy to secure its own natural gas supply to provide energy security for current and future MRL mining operations at lower cost and with lower emissions to replace diesel use across the business.
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Mt Marion Lithium Project production of 108,696 dmt was 16% lower than Q2 FY21 because of lower yielding ore being used in production, as part of the optimised long-term mine plan. Production was up 22% pcp. Shipments of spodumene concentrate were back in line with expectations and the mine remains on track to meet or exceed shipment guidance for FY21 of 450kt to 475kt.
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Construction by Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) (Albemarle) of the 50ktpa Kemerton Lithium Hydroxide Plant continued, with a workforce of approximately 1,250 people on site. The project remains on track for completion in the second half of calendar year 2021.
