IronClad Mining Ltd is hoping to get the native title agreement for a new magnetite mine in South Australia. This is the second of four new mines that expect to begin operations by the end of 2010 in South Australia.
The native title agreement covers the Wilcherry Hill operation that lies west of Whyalla. The new mine is expected to start production of iron ore early next year. The executive chairman of IronClad Mining Ltd, Ian Finch said that the mine would produce up to 2 million tonnes of ore per year.
He even said that the potential to mine more ore existed, however due to the lack of a suitable port for exporting the iron ore, the mining had to be limited at the Wilcherry Hill project on the Eyre Peninsula. The company will be exporting high grade crystalline magnetite as direct shipping ore.
Magnetite is a low grade form of iron ore which is usually concentrated and sold as pellets. However Chinese steel mills are interested in the high grade crystalline magnetite so IronClad Mining intends to ship it out in this form to them.