IT’S HANCOCK AND ORE FOR PILBARA’S NEW MINE SITE

Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Iron Ore has produced first ore from its $840 million McPhee mine in the Pilbara following years of regulatory delays.

Maiden ore from the site 30 kilometres north of the town of Nullagine will be transported about 100km to Hancock’s huge Roy Hill mining operation for additional processing.

McPhee’s ore will be blended to “improve product mix and sustain Roy Hill’s production volumes”, Hancock stated.

McPhee’s price tag to build was approximately $840m. The site’s village can house about 200 workers.

Hancock and the WA Government are also involved in a “unique partnership” to upgrade around 92km of Marble Bar Road to a sealed two-lane, all-weather road.

“First ore is a significant achievement for all our teams, including the HanRoy project team who successfully navigated approvals and construction, and worked with our operation teams to deliver Hancock’s newest mine,” Hancock Iron Ore chief executive Gerhard Veldsman said.

“McPhee will further strengthen our ability to deliver reliable, high-quality iron ore to our customers and partners, while extending the long-term operations of Roy Hill.

“We are especially pleased to be able to extend our operations, so we can strive for longer to be the best mining company in Australia, for Australia.”

McPhee’s development progress was significantly slowed by regulatory green tape. It finally received the environmental green light from the Federal Government in September 2024 after years of delays.

The mine was originally referred for environmental approval in early 2021 and meant to produce first ore in 2023.

Hancock Prospecting projects chief Sanjiv Manchanda said the development of McPhee will support jobs and ongoing economic benefits for Australia.

“As Australia’s most successful private mining house, Hancock Prospecting has a proud record of developing mines which have provided many thousands of high-paying jobs and delivered enormous economic benefits to West Australia and the nation overall,” he said.

“We are proud to have delivered WA’s newest mine into production, a mine that will continue to support jobs and deliver an economic boost not only to the state and the country, but also many businesses and regional towns in our north.”

Mrs Rinehart congratulated her workforce involved in bringing the mine to production.

“I hope you are deservedly proud of delivering this mine, which will contribute so much to our state throughout its lifetime.”