Fortescue ships first magnetite product from Iron Bridge

Fortescue Metals Group has announced the first shipment from its newly built Iron Bridge operations will soon be on its way to Vietnam marking the first time the company has exported a high-grade magnetite product. It follows first production earlier this year, which saw the plant surpass expectations with a first run grade of greater than 67% Fe.

This is the first time the company has produced a wet concentrate product, which is transported to Port Hedland through a 135 km slurry pipeline where dewatering and materials handling occurs to create a high-grade magnetite product.

“Today [24/7/23] is a truly special day for Fortescue,” said Fortescue Metals Chief Executive Officer Fiona Hick yesterday. “Last week we celebrated 20 years since Fortescue was founded, and today we celebrate our first shipment of high-grade magnetite product from our most complex and innovative project yet.

“Iron Bridge is a game changer for Fortescue and builds on our track record of safely and successfully developing and operating iron ore projects in the Pilbara. High-grade magnetite product will play an important role in lowering emissions in the steel industry, and Fortescue is moving at pace to ensure we are at the forefront of developing green steel technologies.

“I congratulate the entire Fortescue team for delivering this project while maintaining strong safety performance. We remain focused now on achieving a safe and efficient ramp-up.”

Iron Bridge is an unincorporated joint venture between FMG Magnetite Pty Ltd (69%) and Formosa Steel IB Pty Ltd (31%).

Fortescue says that a total of $3.6 billion in goods and services has been sourced within Western Australia for the Iron Bridge project and its operations, including over $370 million awarded directly to local Indigenous businesses since 2020.

More than 20,000 jobs have been created during the project, with the site workforce peaking at 4000 jobs during construction. Another 900 full-time jobs have been created as the project moves into operations.