Metro Mining set to ship first batch of bauxite for the year to major Chinese aluminium producer

By Deputy Chief EditorApril 15, 2020

143 1 minute read

Metro Mining Ltd (ASX:MMI) has confirmed that the first ship for the 2020 operational year has arrived at Skardon River and loading commenced on the morning of April 14.

This shipment is the first this year to foundation customer Xinfa who will purchase about 2 million dry metric tonnes (DMT) under existing offtake arrangements in 2020.

Land-based activities started on the 2nd of April on day shift only, moving to the regular 24 hours a day, seven days a week basis on the 8th of April.

Favourable weather conditions have allowed mining to get off to an excellent start with 142,000 wet metric tonnes (WMT) of bauxite mined, and of that, 106,000 WMT have been screened to date.

As at the 14th, all barges were fully loaded with 28,000 WMT of bauxite ahead of the arrival of the Vialli.

Daily haulage record achieved[hhmc]

With the commissioning of the three new triple trailer sets there are six sets available, and the benefit of the enlarged fleet is already evident with daily records for haulage being achieved.

The return of the majority of Metros experienced team members has also aided in the efficient restart.

Strong screening throughput rates are also being achieved, despite the inherent moisture in the bauxite post wet season.

In the past few days, the Metro team has achieved screening rates of 850 tonnes per hour (tph) which is a significant increase on the average of 550tph achieved last year.

“Excellent start to the year”[hhmc]

Metro managing director and chief executive officer Simon Finnis said: “This has been an excellent start to the year in trying times amidst all the operational changes we have had to implement to deal with the risk of COVID-19.

“To put the resuRead More – Source

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