Metro Mining to resume operations at Bauxite Hills next month

Metro Mining Ltd (ASX:MMI) (FRA:6ME) will restart operations from April 19, 2021, at the Bauxite Hills Mine in Far North Queensland following the end of the northern Australia wet season. Metro is directly employing more than 120 people from Cape York communities and the Cairns region at the mine with an additional 130 people employed by contractors who provide services to the mine. The company has set a target to mine and ship 4 million wet metric tonnes (WMT) of bauxite between April and December this year. An initial 2.3 million WMT is committed under Metro’s longstanding contract with Xinfa and the negotiations for additional sales for 2021 and beyond are progressing well. “Keen to get back to work” Metro mining managing director and CEO Simon Finnis said: “The Metro team and our contracting partners are keen to get back to work and we are in the fortunate position of being able to welcome back many people who have experience working at Bauxite Hills before. “We have implemented several operational changes that will improve efficiencies and will continue to focus on mining and shipping rates and lowering operational costs, as we are always looking for improvements in our systems and processes. “From what we’re seeing in the market and from our ongoing negotiations, the demand for Metro bauxite is returning, and confidence is returning to the market more widely.” Shares have been as much as 9% higher to 6.2 cents intra-day. Stage 2 expansion Metro’s planned stage two expansion to an annualised rate of 6 million WMT remains the core strategy for the long-term development of Bauxite Hills. The largest component of the stage 2 expansion is the construction and mobilisation of a floating terminal enabling faster loading of larger ocean-going vessels. The company will meet the majority of the financing need for this expansion through a $47.5 million loan facility offered by the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF). This was originally signed in 2020 and the financial close sunset date for the loan facility has recently been extended to September 30, 2021. Last year, Metro’s target to produce 4 million WMT was thwarted by the worldwide impact of COVID-19 on market conditions across the aluminium supply chain. Despite record mining and shipping rates, and lower operational costs, the mine was forced into an early wet season shut down in September.