News

Article by Vanessa Zhou courtesy of Australian Mining

Roy Hill is on the verge of commissioning a processing plant that will help boost shipping of iron ore from the Pilbara site to 60 million tonnes a year.

The bright pink wet high intensity magnetic separator (WHIMS) plant will be a key contributor to Roy Hill’s production target once it is operational.

Roy Hill received approval last year to increase its shipping capacity.

The plant will use two types of magnets to capture the high-grade ultrafine iron ore that is not captured when it travels through Roy Hill’s current process plant.

This ultrafine ore will no longer end up in Roy Hill’s tailings dam, but instead be redirected via its existing processing plant to the fines stockpile.

Roy Hill chief executive Barry Fitzgerald said the project was the first of its kind to be used in a hematite environment by an Australian iron ore company the size and scale of Roy Hill.

“The WHIMS plant will reduce our environmental impacts by decreasing our tailings waste by approximately four million tonnes a year, as well as provide that four million tonnes a year as additional iron ore without increasing the amount of material mined (because it’s already part of the material that has been mined,” Fitzgerald said.

The plant is painted pink in accordance with Roy Hill chairman Gina Rinehart’s desire to raise breast cancer awareness among the staff.

“(It is) Mrs Gina Rinehart’s desire to encourage our staff to be supportive of breast cancer patients, and in honour of our many female staff on the Roy Hill team,” Fitzgerald said.

“Our staff continue to raise money to help breast cancer patients and or research. It is the first pink WHIMS plant in the world.”

Roy Hill expects to start commissioning this month and deliver first ore by December.