Australian iron ore miner Atlas Iron Limited has announced that it has officially opened its Mt Webber iron ore mine in Western Australia's Pilbara region. The official opening follows the start of mining activity in December 2013 and crushing and screening operations from June 1 this year. Haulage operations at the mine will start on July 18.
Mt Webber's initial production capacity of 3 million mt per year is expected to ramp up to 6 million mt per year following the commissioning of the second phase expansion by the end of December 2014.
Atlas Iron managing director Ken Brinsden stated that Mt Webber was one of the company's lowest-cost mine developments with outstanding capital efficiency of $35 per annualized metric ton of production and very competitive operating costs. "These lower capital and operating costs continue to improve our already-strong position on the global cost curve, and against our peers in Australia," Mr. Brinsden said.
