SIMEC Mining owns and operates a 10m tonne per annum iron ore mine in the Middleback Ranges in South Australia, approximately 60 kilometers from the town of Whyalla.
These operations incorporate the Iron Baron, Iron Knob and South Middleback Ranges mine sites. They mine both hematite and magnetite iron ore which is respectively railed and piped to Whyalla. The majority of the magnetite is pelletised (c.1.3mtpa) and used within the steel works. The hematite ore (c.10mtpa) and excess magnetite is loaded onto ships for transport to a primarily Asian customer base. Total reserves and resources are just under half a billion tonnes.
The Alliance also owns a portfolio of non-ferrous mining assets located in South Australia. This includes the Ardrossan Dolomite Mine – which supplies dolomite flux to Liberty’s Whyalla Steelworks – as well as a collection of copper-gold exploration projects.
SIMEC Mining also operate a coking coal mine in Tahmoor NSW, which has a production capacity of 2m tonnes per annum and supplies coking coal required for blast-furnace steelmaking.