Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue hopes for better ore grades take another hit with sluggish Iron Bridge

Fortescue’s troubled Iron Bridge magnetite operations are three years away from achieving production capacity, and the project is essential to billionaire Andrew Forrest’s plan to raise the iron content of its ore.

Fortescue Metals’ new Iron Bridge magnetite project.

Fortescue’s troubled Iron Bridge magnetite operation is three years away from meeting its production objective, and more remedial work is needed to get the mine’s processing plant running efficiently.

The project was designed as a key plank in executive chairman Andrew Forrest’s plan to supply higher-grade material to Chinese steelmakers, but it has failed to fire after multiple setbacks.

The $US3.9bn ($6.1bn) mine, which converts lower-quality magnetite ore into high-grade concentrate via an energy-intensive process, has struggled to get anywhere near nameplate capacity of 22 million tonnes a year since Fortescue declared first production in 2023.

In an update on Thursday, Fortescue said it expected Iron Bridge shipments of 10-12 million tonnes in 2026-27 and for the operations to hit an annualised production rate of 16-20 million tonnes the following year.

Billionaire Andrew Forrest at Iron Bridge.

Indeed, Fortescue does not expect Iron Bridge to reach capacity until 2027-28.

Iron Bridge is an important part of Fortescue’s plan to raise the iron content of its ore. The mine cost $US1.3bn more than its original $US2.6bn forecast, and first production arrived a year behind schedule.

Dr Forrest, who once said there was a graveyard filled with failed magnetite projects, this week repeated warnings that the Pilbara iron ore industry was at a crossroads as grades decline after decades of mining.

Fortescue declined to comment on the problems facing Iron Bridge detailed in its update to the ASX on Thursday, and following a board meeting in Perth this week.

“It (Iron Bridge) remains an important operation for Fortescue, increasing production and shipping capacity, while complementing and enhancing its existing product portfolio,” the company said.

Fortescue said it was trying “innovative solutions” to get the plant working properly.

“Workstreams included in-house redesign of the air classification units and installation of upgraded ceramic liners to address premature erosion,” it said.

On May 1, 2023, Dr Forrest described first production as the biggest relief of his career.

“Iron Bridge will lead the way for a successful magnetite industry in WA and is a game changer for not only Fortescue, but the wider iron ore industry,” he said at the time.

It remains the last big project built by Fortescue after the company’s retreat from major investments in green hydrogen.

The Iron Bridge setbacks include a faulty 240 kilometre-long pipeline built to supply water to the mine. WA work safety authorities also intervened over claims workers had been exposed to dust high in crystalline silica.

Safety inspectors issued one prohibition notice, and four improvement notices, related to dust management at Iron Bridge.

Fortescue has shipped higher volumes of lower grade iron ore than it hoped in recent times. And its newest hematite iron ore mine, Eliwana, has not produced superior ore in the volumes originally anticipated.

Perth-headquartered Fortescue has also put plans to mine a high-grade hematite deposit in the African nation of Gabon on the backburner.

Iron Bridge appears to have followed the same difficult path as other magnetite mines in WA.

Chinese conglomerate CITIC took a decade to gets its Sino Iron operations, built at a cost of more than $US12bn including a port and other infrastructure, anywhere near nameplate capacity of 24 million tonnes a year.

Originally published as Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue hopes for better ore grades take another hit with sluggish Iron Bridge