Mineral Resources’ 330-tonne road trains are being forced to drive at a third of the usual speed between the company’s flagship Pilbara iron ore mine and a port 147 kilometres to the west, putting in doubt shipping targets set by the Chris Ellison-led business as it seeks to reassure its investors.
Footage of the crucial link between Ken’s Bore and the port at Onslow shows trucks travelling down a wet, single lane road with construction on either side. MinRes earlier this year admitted that there were problems with the months-old road, half owned by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, and said it would spend $230 million repairing and upgrading it.
New images from MinRes’ haul road in the Pilbara. The company is taking analysts to the site on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Ellison will take analysts and investors to the project in a bid to show the progress that the company has made on the road. He spoke to the same group at the MinRes headquarters on Tuesday afternoon. The company’s share price has slid almost 70 per cent in the last year amid concerns about the viability of the road and the cost of repairs.
MinRes is also being investigated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission after The Australian Financial Review revealed an alleged offshore tax evasion scheme that enriched Ellison and other executives. The scheme cost shareholders more than $7 million.
The haul road is a crucial part of a $3 billion project to build a new mining province in the Pilbara’s west which has been unviable because of the cost of building rail infrastructure given its isolation. Other Pilbara producers – Rio Tinto, BHP and Fortescue – use rail to connect mines to port.