Overview
The primary focus of Ferrowest Limited is the proposed Yalgoo Iron Project. This Project aims to investigate, and if feasible, develop a 500,000 tonnes per annum merchant pig iron production facility in the mid west of Western Australia. Possible product lines include iron concentrates, hot briquetted iron (HBI) and merchant pig iron (MPI) in the form of ingots, granules or nuggets depending on the technology chosen.
The business plan envisages:
- the mining of 2.4 million tonnes per annum of magnetite from the Yogi iron mineralisation located 233km from the Port of Geraldton;
- beneficiation of the magnetite ore to produce 770,000 tonnes per annum of concentrate; and
- conversion of that concentrate into 500,000 tonnes per annum of value added iron product using available or emerging technologies.
The Yalgoo Iron Project has solid project fundamentals, combining:
- Location - Proximity to a port and relatively short shipping distances to Asia;
- Infrastructure - Existing key infrastructure;
- Proposed Process - One of several merchant pig iron making technologies;
- Proposed Product - High grade, high 'value in use' merchant pig iron;
- Proposed Markets - Proximity to growing markets for alternate sources of iron;
- Potential Project Lifespan - A large potential magnetite iron mineralisation; and
- People - An experienced, multi-disciplined team.
Company Background
Ferrowest Limited was formed in 2005 by a small group of resource project specialists who saw an opportunity to add value to a potentially large magnetite mineralisation, called Yogi, serviced by excellent existing infrastructure. Their aim is to produce merchant pig iron for export into the 'alternative' iron market where world steel production growth has resulted in a shortfall of scrap and alternative iron feed stock for the growing electric arc furnace steel making industry.
