Wiluna west

The Wiluna West iron ore project is generally considered to be the second biggest DSO (direct shipping ore) hematite project in the mid-west of Western Australia. It is located about 30 kilometres south west of Wiluna which is approximately 950 kilometres north east of Perth.

Wiluna West Project Gets Approval From Environmental Authority

In April 2013, GWR Group ( formerly Golden West Resources) was

informed by the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority, that its plans to develop a large scale hematite mining operation at Wiluna West did not need a formal assessment under the requirements of the Environmental Protection Act, 1986. This decision allowed development of the Wiluna West iron ore project to go ahead and develop the mine at a production rate of 10 million tonnes a year for a period of around 15 years.

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) made its decision as a result of a referral, lodged by GWR Group regarding its plans to develop the Wuluna West mine. The EPA told GWR Group that the information it had forwarded was adequate and it was satisfied any potential environmental factors that may become identified would be able to be satisfactorily regulated and mitigated through the normal statutory decision making processes. The Wiluna West project had already obtained approval from the Western Australian Department of Mines and Petroleum to mine the high grade John William Doutch hematite deposit that is situated at the Wiluna West mine site.

The proposal put to the EPA by GWR Group was for the John William Doutch hematite deposit to be mined at a commencement rate of one million tonnes a year for the first three years of the larger Wiluna West operation's life of mine. The John William Doutch deposit itself contains a DSO hematite resource of 10.7 million tonnes grading at 63.7 percent iron above a cut off of 55 percent iron. The EPR decision permits the Wiluna West project to proceed and for mining to begin on specified ore bodies. This means the other ore bodies making up the greater Wiluna West iron ore project will also be mined subject to the required clearing permits from both the Environmental and Mining Acts, as was the case with the approval given to the mining of the John William Doutch deposit. Metallurgical testing of John William Doutch lump ore was undertaken at the Brisbane CSIRO laboratories in 2012 with the finding that the ore favaouably compared with premium lump iron ore mined in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia.

Wiluna West Hosts an Exceptional High Grade Direct Shipping Ore

The Wiluna West iron ore project has a JORC compliant resource of 130.3 million tonnes of ore averaging a grade of 60 percent iron. It also has reserves of 69.2 million tonnes grading at 60.3 percent iron. The Wiluna West project is considered by GWR Group Limited as being an exceptional direct shipping ore (DSO) project producing a high grade, low impurity iron ore.

Iron ore mined at the Wiluna West mine will be transported from the site with the use of existing rail and port infrastructure that is already being used by other iron ore producers in the region. The ore will be exported through the Esperance Port. Esperance has the deepest port in the southern area of Australia and is capable of accommodating Capesize vessels of up to 200,000 tonnes.