Australian iron ore miner Tombador Iron is moving closer to the first ore production at its site in eastern Brazil’s Bahia region.
The company announced the completion of mine construction and the commissioning of a crushing and screening plant at the project. A first blast was launched as part of pre-stripping operations, it said in a statement to the media. The site is now ready for inspection by the Environmental Bureau of Bahia. Production is on track to commence in Q2 2021.
The Tombador plant has a capacity of processing 400mt of ore per hour, which translates to 3.3mn mt in annual capacity. The project has a mineral resource of 10mn mt with a 67pc Fe content in its hematite lump product.
Tombador signed a deal with Trafigura Group for 100pc of output from its Brazil project for export markets on Feb 4. Trafigura Group sought the high-grade lump and fines selections and locked the agreement for three years. The company will renew this agreement annually, thereafter. Customers from South America, Europe, and the Middle East have also evinced interest in the material from this project. Tombador iron has retained the right to make changes to contracts and make domestic sales in Brazil either directly or in conjunction with Trafigura.