Iron ore price drops hit Cairn Hill mine

The Cairn Hill iron ore project in South Australia has fallen victim to iron ore price drops, becoming one of the very first to drop out of the game.

Paragraph entered by Atlantic migration, in order for SteelFirst articles to display correctly on Metal Bulletin.

The mine’s operator, Termite Resources, has been placed in administration, IMX Resources, which holds a 51% stake in the company, announced on Thursday June 19.

IMX has appointed Ferrier Hodgson’s Martin Lewis as administrator. He is expected to provide an initial assessment of Cairn Hill’s financial position as soon as possible, it said.

All contractual liabilities for the Cairn Hill mine are Termite Resources’ obligation, except for a guarantee provided by IMX under a port-handling services contract with Flinders Ports that is capped at A$3 million ($2.8 million), according to IMX.

IMX noted that this development has no impact on its ongoing exploration at its Ntaka Hill nickel sulphide project or its Kishugu gold prospect in south-east Tanzania. Neither will it affect its efforts to secure a partner for its Mt Woods magnetite project in South Australia, it said.

Sharp drops in iron ore prices are giving many emerging high-cost mining companies a hard time.

Metal Bulletin’s 62% Fe Iron Ore Index was at $91.28 per tonne cfr China on Wednesday June 18, down 32.8% from an average of $135.90 per tonne cfr in 2013.

The Cairn Hill mine has production capacity of 1.8 million tpy of coarse-grained magnetite-copper-gold direct shipping ore product.

What to read next
Brazil's aluminium industry is further enhancing its sustainability by boosting renewable energy use and recycling, while mitigating risk from high-carbon imports
German copper producer Aurubis is among the least likely to consider reducing capacity despite record low treatment charges (TCs), according to its chief executive officer
European copper demand, particularly for wire rod, remains strong and seems to be outpacing broader macro-economic growth in the region, the chief executive officer of German producer Aurubis has said.
The process to place the smaller and less efficient of the two processing plants at Los Bronces on care and maintenance is expected to be completed by mid-2024 and comes as the company pushes value over volume, the chief executive officer of Anglo American Chile said
The near-term prospects for Chinese copper smelting capacity amid near-zero treatment charges (TCs) will, to a certain extent, depend on plants’ exposure to spot TCs, the chief executive officer of Rio Tinto’s copper division said on Tuesday, April 16
It will be very difficult for many Chinese copper smelters to compete with treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) at record lows, according to the chairman of Chile’s state-owned copper producer Codelco