Metro to complete bauxite mine construction by year-end
By Davide Ghilotti
Published: Monday, 02 October 2017
Ongoing works for the construction of the bauxite mine at the Bauxite Hills site in Australia are on schedule.
Construction of Metro Mining’s Bauxite Hills
mine is expected to be completed by the end of this year, the
company announced in September.
The announcement follows the concession of three mining
leases on the part of Australian local authorities that were
crucial to proceed with the development of the bauxite
mine.
At Bauxite Hills, Metro Mining is joining its existing
bauxite project with the adjacent Skardon River bauxite
project, previously owned by Gulf Alumina.
Works carried out at this stage include loading and
transport facilities in the river, shoreline and road
connections.
Cyclone moorings are being installed in the Skardon River,
Metro said in its latest update released to the ASX.
Contractor SAB Mining is handling the clearing of the areas
designated for the barge loading facilities (BLF). The conveyor
system for the BLF is being assembled in Cairns by CSF Steel
Fabricators, and will be delivered by mid-September.
Additional civil works including upgrading the existing roads
and sediment dam works are also in progress.
Metro Mining signed a letter of intent (LOI) with
China’s Shandong Aluminium Company Limited (Lubei)
for a three-year supply of bauxite sourced at its Bauxite Hills
project in Queensland, Australia in May this year.
The non-binding agreement cover a volume ranging between
50,000 tonnes and 1m tonnes bauxite per year, with shipments
due to start once Metro’s operations is up and
running from April next year.