Metro Mining completes Definitive Feasibility Study for the Stage 2 expansion of the Bauxite Hills Mine

Metro Mining has announced the completion of the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) for the Stage 2 expansion of the Bauxite Hills Mine. The press release says that the expansion will reduce unit operating costs and increase production capacity to 6M WMT per annum from 2021 onwards. The DFS also confirms reserves of 109.5Mt at Bauxite Hills and a mine life to 2037.

The key components of Stage 2 expansion are:

• Construction and mobilisation to Skardon River of a r Floating Terminal with the ability to load 6M WMT pa of bauxite;
• Scale up of the current mining, haulage and transhipment fleets;
• Optimisation and upgrading of the existing port and barge loading facilities

Metro Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Simon Finnis said, “The completion of the feasibility study and selection of the preferred design for the FT is a key step to allow execution of the expansion at Bauxite Hills by 2021. It builds on the outstanding production performance and operating experience gained since the mine commenced production in April 2018. We have some further work to do on the final design, and we need to finalise the funding package, and then we will present to the board for their approval.”

With commissioning of the Floating Terminal planned for Q1 2021, the production target for 2020 is 4.0M WMT. However, Metro will continue to push its efforts towards increasing production in 2020. The DFS was completed by MEC Mining, an independent Mining Consultancy firm which also completed feasibility studies for Bauxite Hills. They were supported by a few more specialist consulting firms including:

• Rocktree Consulting, a global specialist builder and operator of transhipment vessels,
• Braemar, a leading international Ship Broker,
• CM Group, a market leading bauxite industry specialist and,
• Wave Engineering a highly experienced engineering firm, which was involved in the initial construction of the Bauxite Hills mine and previous feasibility studies.

The Bauxite Hills Mine has been operating for more than 18 months and has shipped over 4.3M WMT of bauxite to various Chinese alumina refineries. The mining company is building its operation and sales experience and a strong customer base. Stage 2 expansion is an integral part of its growth strategy.