Production has restarted at the multi-billion dollar Sino Iron mine after a fire on Monday, with inspectors due to visit the site this afternoon to determine the cause.
Production has restarted at the multi-billion dollar Sino Iron mine after a fire on Monday, with inspectors due to visit the site this afternoon to determine the cause.
The magnetite mine is at Cape Preston, about 100 kilometres south west of Karratha and is operated by CITIC Pacific Mining.
It has 24 million tonne annual capacity and the business is part of Chinese conglomerate Citic.
“Production at Sino Iron’s processing area (concentrator) has resumed, following a fire at a non-operational sampler within the nearby tailings thickener precinct yesterday (Monday) afternoon,” a spokesperson for Citic said late on Tuesday.
“There were no injuries and the fire was extinguished by Citic’s fire and emergency response team within 1.5 hours.
“Production at the concentrator temporarily ceased yesterday as a precautionary measure, until a thorough safety inspection could be conducted in daylight hours.
“(Citic) is cooperating closely with the Department of Mines Industry Regulation and Safety inspectors to determine the cause of the fire.”
Business News understands officers from the state’s mines department were due to travel to the site this afternoon.
“(The department) has received notification of a major fire at Citic Pacific Mining's iron ore operation at Cape Preston in the Pilbara,” a spokesperson for the department said this morning.
“The fire is out, and emergency teams remain on site.
“There were no reported injuries.
“DMIRS officers are following up on the incident today and will visit the site as part of their assessment.”
