"Mitsubishi owned Cape Flattery Silica Mine have been operating for over 50 years and has provisions to export 10Mtpa. My question is, why are they only exporting 3Mtpa?"
Like mmmggg01 I wondered why only 3Mtpa when there exists an established wharf loading system. In the absence any advice I assume the answer seems to lie in logistical restraints in loading, permitted ship size in the port area and of course the weather.
The Cape Flattery Port operates under procedures determined under Qld. Marine Safety Regulations. The maximum permitted vessel size is 80,000 DWT, the current ship loading capacity is 2,000 tph and the Cyclone Season runs from 1 Nov to 30 April.
All going well a ship could in theory be fully loaded in 40 continuous hours with a 2 day turnaround or 4 days if only daylight hours are worked. So much for theory. I suspect in the real world if they averaged a 7 day turnaround time they would be doing well. Moving 3Mtpa require a minimum of 40 ships at or near the maximum loading capacity so taking into account the cyclone season and other weather extremes the ability to shift 3Mtpa seems pretty close to a limit unless the loading capacity is upgraded.
It will be interesting to see what output comes from Metallica using an intermediary barge to ship loading operation. I note that the Diatreme 2019 Scoping Study was based on moving 750,000tpa and that involved a 90 km round trip from Nob Point to the Cape Flattery designated port area.
If Metallica opts to a barge loading system, as per Diatreme, it may only be a few KMs to an anchored vessel so presumably a Metallica Scoping Study could be looking at a turnaround of well over 750,000tpa with far grater economies and less risk. Look forward to this! -
MLM Price at posting:
3.6¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
