It is a whole new Iron ore mining operation, from a new location and shipping out through a coastal location that cannot have a deep-water port, due to the entire area basically being a huge tidal flat region.
Interestingly, they're also planning for those autonomous road trains to be electric-powered (swappable battery packs).
Janus Electric, an Australian electric truck startup, already has a prototype electric truck roadtrain, and the demand for them is huge.
So, this company (MinRes) is spending mega-billions to build a new Iron ore mine, build a 150km dedicated haul road (including grade separation where the haul road interacts with public roads), and build a massive 220,000 tonne sealed, negative pressure ore storage building at the port (to prevent any Iron ore dust problem, which is unacceptable to coastal towns with nice clean beaches).
From there, the ore is loaded into 20,000 tonne dedicated barges and run 40 kms offshore, where the ore is then transferred into "Cape size" bulk ore carriers (usually around 150,000 tonnes capacity).
On top of that, they are building two "resort-style" camps for their on-site employees - one at the minesite, and one on the coast.
You can get some idea of the profitability of Iron ore mines from this level of expenditure.
But only a limited number of people want to work in Iron ore mines in Western Australia, it requires someone who can cope with temperatures of up to 50°C in Summer, sometimes below 0°C in Winter, isolation, long working hours, limited entertainment, and work associates who are often less-than-social personalities.
For the companies, it's a massive cost saving, eliminating as many employees as possible. They spend mega-millions on isolated minesite camps and facilities to try and provide a normal social life, and they often have to build major airstrips and aviation facilities that are capable of taking decent-sized, 50-pax-plus jets for the FIFO employees.
MinRes’ Onslow Iron project is set to redefine mining in Western Australia through world-first autonomous road trains, industry […]
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