Fenix commences development of iron ore mine

The company, along with a local Western Australian contractor is starting early establishments of building an access road and camp location, having secured camp buildings, key staff and ordered truck and trailer combinations for the road transport fleet.

With these critical plant and equipment items having been ordered and secured, Fenix Resources believes a mining contract award is “imminent”.

This puts Fenix on track for Iron Ridge production to begin before the end of 2020, with first ore shipment scheduled for early 2021.

“We are fully focussed on taking advantage of one of Iron Ridge’s key attributes, speed to market, in that it can be transitioned into a production asset in a timeframe of around three months,” Fenix managing director Rob Brierley said.

“In advance of awarding the mining contract, we have local businesses doing early stage works for us, consistent with our objective of benefitting the community in which we will operate.

“We look forward to delivering on our previously announced timeline to achieve first sales in early 2021.”

The company is “well advanced” in its negotiations with the Mid-West Ports Authority at Geraldton, where export capacity is available for Fenix.

The Iron Ridge project will continue to benefit not only the Cue and Geraldton communities, where it is estaimted to create 350 full time equivalent direct and indirect jobs.

This includes 70 full time employees on-site at Iron Ridge, subject to mining approvals and 100 full time jobs in Geraldton, including 70 road train drivers and an additional 30 jobs at the fleet maintenance depot as well as jobs at the port, local businesses and for the contractors that service the project.