By: Esmarie Swanepoel
8th August 2012
KALGOORLIE (mining weekly) – The CEO of iron-ore miner Fortescue Metals told delegates at the Diggers and Dealers conference that the company would remain profitable, even when faced with lower iron-ore prices.
“We’ve heard quite a lot on the declining iron-ore prices and the impact on the industry, as well as the so called end of the mining boom. But with our cash costs, even with low iron-ore prices, we remain very strong,” said Nev Power on Wednesday.
Fortescue was currently working on expanding its production to 95-million tons a year by the end of this year, and further to 155-million tons by mid 2013. The final phase of the expansion would see the Solomon project come on line, which consists of the greenfield Firetail and Kings developments.
Power said on the sidelines of the conference that the introduction of the Solomon project to the company’s production capacity would lower C1 costs from the $48/t average achieved at the end of the 2012 financial year to around $38/t.
“The key for us would undoubtedly be the completion of construction and ramping up of Solomon. They are two independent greenfield mines and we have all the infrastructure coming on nicely, and it will come down to the completion of the ore processing facilities and how quickly we can ramp that up,” he said.
Meanwhile, Power also expresses his confidence that China’s demand for iron-ore would continue, as the country focused on reducing inflation but increasing gross domestic product growth.
Edited by: Mariaan Webb
8th August 2012
KALGOORLIE (mining weekly) – The CEO of iron-ore miner Fortescue Metals told delegates at the Diggers and Dealers conference that the company would remain profitable, even when faced with lower iron-ore prices.
“We’ve heard quite a lot on the declining iron-ore prices and the impact on the industry, as well as the so called end of the mining boom. But with our cash costs, even with low iron-ore prices, we remain very strong,” said Nev Power on Wednesday.
Fortescue was currently working on expanding its production to 95-million tons a year by the end of this year, and further to 155-million tons by mid 2013. The final phase of the expansion would see the Solomon project come on line, which consists of the greenfield Firetail and Kings developments.
Power said on the sidelines of the conference that the introduction of the Solomon project to the company’s production capacity would lower C1 costs from the $48/t average achieved at the end of the 2012 financial year to around $38/t.
“The key for us would undoubtedly be the completion of construction and ramping up of Solomon. They are two independent greenfield mines and we have all the infrastructure coming on nicely, and it will come down to the completion of the ore processing facilities and how quickly we can ramp that up,” he said.
Meanwhile, Power also expresses his confidence that China’s demand for iron-ore would continue, as the country focused on reducing inflation but increasing gross domestic product growth.
Edited by: Mariaan Webb
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