Order for Australian
magnetite iron ore project

T‌he Weir Group PLC (Weir) has been awarded a £ 100 million order to provide industry-leading energy saving solutions to the Iron Bridge Magnetite Project, a joint venture between Fortescue Metals Group Ltd subsidiary FMG Magnetite Pty Ltd and Formosa Steel IB Pty Ltd. The Project is located 145 km south of Port Hedland in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The order, which includes a range of Weir crushing and pump equipment including Enduron^® High Pressure Grinding Rolls and GEHO^® pumps, will reduce energy consumption and wet tailings waste by more than 30 % compared to traditional mining technologies.

The Iron Bridge project is a US$ 2.6 billion investment in premium magnetite iron ore reserves with annual production, when the mine is fully operational, of 22 million wet metric t/a. Delivery of the first ore is expected in 2022. Weir’s Enduron^® HPGRs are increasingly replacing conventional mills in comminution (crushing, screening and grinding) circuits because of their substantially lower energy consumption and potential for significant total cost of ownership reduction. Not only do they require as much as 40 % less energy than traditional alternatives, but their wearable components last much longer and the maintenance time required to replace worn out parts is significantly lower.