Mount Gibson Iron (ASX:MGX) has detected in advance a localised rock fall that occurred in a section of the eastern footwall (island-side) of the Main Pit at Koolan Island at the weekend.
The $564.70 million market capitalisation company says the event was detected by the site’s continuous radar monitoring systems and no injuries or equipment damage occurred.
The area affected by the rock fall is not currently being mined and ore production is not scheduled to occur there until the March quarter in 2024. Mount Gibson says initial geotechnical evaluation indicates that remedial measures can be implemented to enable mining to safely start in the affected zone in line with the current mine plan.
Mount Gibson reports a detailed geotechnical assessment is now underway to further define these measures, which are likely to include using additional strengthened mesh, as well as cable bolting and shotcreting typical for ground support activities at the Koolan Island operation.
Mining operations are unaffected, with ore production presently focused on the western half of the Main Pit, and processing and shipping also continuing as planned.
Meanwhile, iron ore sales for the September 2023 quarter are in line with the company’s plans, with 7 high-grade (+65% Fe) shipments totalling just over 500,000 wet metric tonnes (WMT) already completed in the quarter to date.
The company has also established substantial iron ore stockpiles of about 1 million WMT available for processing, supplementing ongoing ore extraction from the Main Pit.
Production and cost guidance for the 2023/24 financial year will be provided with the company’s 2022/23 financial results due to be released on 23 August 2023.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Mount Gibson Iron Ltd
