Australian iron ore miner has boosted shipments to record levels via the sale of low grade iron ore which would have once been tossed on the rubbish heap. A gap in the market for lower grade ore has emerged due to the suspension of production in India.
According to a market update released last week Atlas Iron sold four cargoes of “value fines” – or smaller particles of iron ore – in the final quarter of 2012, which totaled 373,000tns and lifted iron ore shipments for the period to a record 1.75 million tonnes.
Atlas says the lower grade ore has become a growing market for the iron ore miner, converting what was once disposable waste into revenue.
“Historically we would have been mining this material anyway to generate our standard-grade product, but it would have just been put on the waste dump,” said managing director Ken Brinsden.
