Commodities, Iron ore, News

Mineral Resources secures WA foothold with Red Hill

iron ore

Mineral Resources has finalised its acquisition of a 40 per cent share of the Red Hill iron ore joint venture (RHIOJV) in Western Australia.

Completion of the acquisition was marked by shareholder approval, which was received on September 2.

A total of 44.9 million shareholders voted for the acquisition, while 23,700 voted against it.

“Completion of the sale was conditional on Ministerial approval, which has been obtained, and approval by Red Hill Iron shareholders which was obtained at the general meeting held on 2 September 2021,” Red Hill Iron stated in a media release about the sale.

The $400 million acquisition is part of Mineral Resources’ plan to consolidate its iron ore resources around its Ashburton Hub in Western Australia.

Mineral Resources has already paid Red Hill $200 million as part of the transaction.

RHIOJV was formed in 2005 after the Australian Premium iron joint venture secured a farm-in agreement with Red Hill’s mineral tenements in Western Australia.

The Australian Premier iron ore joint venture is between AMCI (IO) and Aquila Steel, which owns the remaining 60 per cent of the RHIOJV.

Aquila Steel is a subsidiary of Aquila Resources, which is 85 per cent owned by Baosteel and 15 per cent by Mineral Resources.

AMCI is 50 per cent owned by AMCI and 49 per cent by South Korean steelmaker POSCO.

In the 2020-21 financial year, Mineral Resources achieved record iron ore shipments and production.

It produced 19.5 million tonnes of iron ore, 38 per cent higher than the previous year.

However, the company has suffered labour shortages as a result of hard border closures.

Despite the record shipments, the border restrictions have impacted its ability to ship iron ore, including a shortage of road train drivers.

Mineral Resources share price is up by 2.48 per cent to $54.61 per share at the time of writing.

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