MIN FY19 Results - Iron Valley

In the absence of any news, its always interesting to hear what MIN have to say about Iron Valley. Whilst not 'front of mind' for most BCI holders (the focus has moved to whats going on at Mardie, and rightly so....), the royalty that BCI receive from IV is of vital importance to BCI's future.

The following are grabs re IV from MIN's results from the other day.

* Iron Valley at steady state (page 3)
* Innovation - Light Rail System (page 14)
* Running at steady state: 7.4Mt shipped (page 18)
* Sold all stockpiled fines that were unsaleable last year (page 18)
* Revenue of $77/t achieved (includes sale of stockpiled fines) (page 18)
* $68/t CFR Cost shipped (page 18)
* Focus is on maintaining production as water and quality issues increase (page 22)
* Production and export rates unlikely to vary materially from FY19 (page 22)
* Average cost per tonne is expected to increase by around 5% as the mine deepens (page 22)
* Pilbara Infrastructure Project (PIP - page 29)
* Progressing development of PIP (page 29)
* Light rail system: continue work on finalising design and right of way approvals (page 29)
* Port stockyard and capesize carrier berth: progressing with approvals (page 29)
* Anticipate construction commencing 2020 (page 29)
* 7.4Mt of IO exported from IV in FY19, up 20% on pcp (page 36)
* Lump contribution to exports of 42%, down from 67% in pcp. MRL capitalised on higher market prices to sell 2.7Mt of stockpiled Fines product under a fixed price contract (page 36)
* Lump realisation of Adjusted Platts (62%) Index increased in FY19 and, in particular, during 2H19 (page 36)
* Fines realisation of Adjusted Platts (62%) Index also increased in 2H19, Realisation excluding the impact of the fixed price contract was 78% in 2H19 (page 36)
* Increase in CFR Cost per tonne exported in 2H19 was primarily due to higher royalties and shipping costs (page 36)


So clearly MIN was able to sell stockpiled fines over the last 6 months which certainly helped BCI via the higher prices achieved. However clearly there are water table issues at the mine and this may impact the amount of the better quality 'Lump' ore able to be sold over the next year, which in turn will have an impact on BCI's revenue, particularly if the IO price continues on its current path......

The good news is that it appears the 'PIP' (Light Rail) is still continuing with the planning stages, and that construction is set down to commence in 2020.

GLTAH.