Onslow Iron site tour gets Mineral Resources back in the good...

Onslow Iron site tour gets Mineral Resources back in the good books with analysts
Adrian Rauso | Mining
Fri, 30 May 2025 2:00PM
The Onslow Iron haul road is looking better and the new chairman left a good impression — that was the verdict from a throng of analysts inspecting Mineral Resources’ most important project.
On Wednesday morning, MinRes flew 54 analysts and investors from Perth in the West Pilbara as part of an endeavour by the debt-laden miner to mend its battered reputation and restore investor confidence in its balance sheet.
The state of the 147km haul road, essential for MinRes to cart ore from mine to port, was a key focus of the trip.
MinRes is currently spending $230 million to resurface the road after it was badly damaged by wet weather just a few months after construction was completed and a 49 per cent stake in the road was sold to Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners for up to $1.3 billion.
A spate of truck rollovers on the road heightened market concerns.
Analysts were broadly positive about the repairs after being driven across the entire road with MinRes boss Chris Ellison and other top brass.
“Onslow haul road repairs are progressing slowly (at about) 500 metres per day which may put pressure on MinRes’ guided September quarter time-frame for completion,” Jarden’s Ben Lyons said.
MinRes clarified the repairs are actually progressing at about 500 metres per shift, equating to 1km per day.
“That said, whilst we’re no road experts, we were impressed with how robust the resurfaced road appeared,” Mr Lyons said.
Barrenjoey’s Glyn Lawcock believes “the much-talked-about haul road will be fixed, in our view”, while Citi’s Kate McCutcheon was also “impressed” by the repairs.
“The general consensus was that roads weren’t attendees’ area of expertise but the widths, times seemed to work; and the design and loading of the road trains didn’t raise any flags,” Ms McCutcheon said.
“While there are questions over road maintenance over time with no standard to compare, we wouldn’t expect maintenance to ‘make or break’.”
However, she noted driver availability remains a headwind for the haulage operation’s success.
Morgan Stanley’s Rahul Anand said the Onslow Iron project, including the road, appeared to be in “good shape” and he was seemingly satisfied with the company’s explanation for the truck rollovers.
“Three (out of six total) rollovers occurring on the haul road, the incidents were caused by driver error. MinRes noted that the rollovers that occur on public roads on a per annum basis are typically three to five times this number in any given year,” Mr Anand said.
“However, the company aims to improve safety to reduce driver error-potential as part of repairs.”
New chair Malcolm Bundey was also highlighted as a positive takeaway from the trip amidst corporate governance concerns that have plagued MinRes since last year.
Mr Lyons, who has been one of MinRes’ most ardent critics over the past two years, said Mr Bundey’s appointment was “very positive” in regards to improving board independence.
“Mr Bundey brings a wealth of experience to the role, having led large multi-national public and private companies, and worked with founder-lead businesses,” he said.
“Mr Bundey outlined his initial three key focus areas: governance and board composition . . . balance sheet repair . . . and fostering the Onslow project as a transformational asset for shareholders.”
Mr Bundey, who has never held a role with a mining-related business, joined MinRes as a non-executive director two weeks ago and will succeed outgoing chair James McClements on July 1.
Mr McClements announced his exit following revelations in October that Mr Ellison was involved in historic tax evasion on co-owned offshore companies and used MinRes for personal benefit via a series of related-party transactions.
Mr Ellison is due to depart before the middle of next year following the scandal.