Metro Mining Ltd. restarts bauxite mining with strong anticipation of an increase in demand

As the wet season in Australia from November 2018 to April 2019 comes to an end, Metro Mining Limited has reportedly geared up and resumed bauxite mining at the Bauxite Hills Project in Far North Queensland. The company this year expects to be able to build on the success of its first operation year in 2018.

The primary target of Metro Mining in 2019 is to meet the increasing demand of bauxite from China, particularly from refineries in inland Chinese provinces where supply was hindered by recent mine closures and environmental audits. This year China is expected to import 90 million tonnes of bauxite, compared with 82 million tonnes last year. Even in the subsequent years, the bauxite demand from China is likely to remain strong and grow to as high as 180 million tonnes by 2030, forecasts Metro Mining.

Today, on April 11, a ship for Metro Mining’s first 2019 bauxite shipment to China was due at the dock, according to the Proactive Investors report.

Simon Finnis, the Managing Director and CEO of Metro Mining Limited, told investors at this week’s Proactive CEO Sessions in Sydney and Melbourne that the company was aiming to increase its annual production to 3.5 million wet metric tonnes (wmt) in 2019.

In a bid to do so, the company has already installed and commissioned a jaw crusher. It will enable the company to increase production and easily process oversized material after screening. As a result, stockpiling requirements at the port will be reduced while improving quality management systems. Low-cost operational improvements and upgrading initiatives will also be introduced as part of this initiative.

Finnis mentioned that Metro Mining Limited was also working on a DFS for the potential stage II expansion of annual output to 6 million tonnes by 2021.

Besides demand, bauxite prices are also likely to be on an upward trend this year, Finnis concluded.