A successful shipment of bauxite using a barge loading facility at Weipa has been a cause of excitement in the far north Queensland mining town. Green Coast Resources (GCR) is the first company not aligned with Rio Tinto or Comalco to export bauxite from Cape York Peninsula for more than 50 years.
GCR purchased a tenement several years ago from Cape Alumina Limited, and gained approval to extract and export bauxite from the new mine. But its maiden shipment also was seen as a major step forward for developmental company Metallica Minerals, which provided working capital for the first shipment.
According to its statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, Metallica Minerals provided a short-term loan to GCR and in return, will receive transhipping services when production from its nearby Urquhart project starts next year.
Metallica Minerals chief executive Simon Slesarewich said Urquhart had the potential to export 1.6 million tonnes of bauxite annually. He said the successful transhipping operation, from a self-propelled barge into ocean-going export vessels, had vindicated the company’s decision to use the existing Hey Point facility as a low-capital cost logistics option.
“I have no doubt that all the locals up there in their tinnies and their boats would have gone to have a look at the transhipping because it’s something they haven’t seen before,” Mr Slesarewich said.
For the rest of this article, click here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-25/maiden-bauxite-voyage-paves-way-for-new-cape-york-mines/7963994?section=qld