Some of Australia’s more marginal producers of iron ore have been tempted back into production with the current hight prices of iron ore.
Pricers have been above $100 per tonne for over a year, with the result that some mining operations that were previously closed have re-opened, and others have moved forward with new mining operations.
Over 6mt (million tonnes) of iron ore mining capacity has come on stream in the last year alone, with over 110mt in the pipeline.
Outside Australia, the country’s mining companies are continuing to develop their portfolio in countries such a Madagascar, Congo and Cameroon. In late June, the Northern Territory Port of Darwin, which has shipped no iron ore since 2015, sent out its first shipment. Before weak prices closed all the iron ore mines in the Northern Territory, Darwin had reached a peak of 2mt of iron ore exported per year. High iron ore prices have led to a rush of investment into the Northern Territory.