MinRes completes sale of Yilgarn

Mineral Resources (ASX: MIR) announced yesterday that it has completed the sale of its Yilgarn Hub iron ore assets, located in WA, to Yilgarn Iron Investments (YII).

Under the sale terms, YII has acquired all tenements and other land interest across the hub, associated approvals and licenses, entitlements and fixed assets including Koolyanobbing, Windarling, Carina and Parker Range. YII has also assumed all current environmental, closure and rehabilitation liabilities across the Yilgarn Hub.

Following a feasibility study on the region’s future released June last year, MinRes announced exports would cease from the end of 2024. More than 780 employees were redeployed to other MinRes projects as operations at Yilgarn were ramped down.

As part of the company’s agreement with the WA Government when taking over at Koolyanobbing, MinRes aimed to operate for up to five years or ship 30mt.

The company ultimately operated Koolyanobbing for 6.5 years and exported around 45mt of iron ore from the Port of Esperance, investing $850m in assets and spent $4.2b on the operations since 2018.

MinRes managing director Chris Ellison says throughout the sale process the company’s priority was to select a party most likely to sustain the nearly 80-year-old operations for the benefit of the region and community.

“This transaction ensures these mines will continue to support jobs and the economy for years to come and deliver ongoing benefits to the region and WA,” he said.

“As we transfer our Yilgarn operations to a new owner, we take great pride in everything the MinRes team has achieved in the region over the past 14 years, and that we were able to save hundreds of jobs at Koolyanobbing that would have otherwise been lost with the departure of Cleveland Cliffs.”