Cliffs Natural Resources is proceeding
with an A$320-million capital project at
its Koolyanobbing iron ore complex in
Western Australia that will allow production
to increase to about 11 million mt/y.
The improvements will consist of
enhancements to the existing rail infrastructure,
an increase in rolling stock, and
upgrades to various other existing operational
constraints. Cliffs anticipates the
capital for the project will be spent over
the next two years, with the bulk of the
spending occurring in 2011. Cliffs
expects the improvements to be fully
implemented in the second half of 2012.
The Koolyanobbing operations are
located 250 miles east of Perth and
approximately 30 miles northeast of the
town of Southern Cross. Koolyanobbing
produces lump and fines iron ore. An
expansion program completed in 2006
increased capacity from 6 million to 8
million mt/y. Over the past five years, production
has ranged between 5.8 million
and 8.3 million mt/y.
All of the ore mined at Koolyanobbing
is transported by rail to the Port of
Esperance, 350 miles to the south, for
shipment to Asian customers.
As featured in Womp 2010 Vol 08 - www.womp-int.com