Green light for old mining project

Britmar (Aus) Pty Ltd, a private Victorian company, has taken over the former Western Desert Resources Roper Bar Mine Project, which went into liquidation in April 2015.

The iron ore mine is located 55km south-east of Ngukurr and has been in care and maintenance mode since April 2015.

Primary Industry and Resources Minister, Ken Vowles, said the reopening of the mine showed confidence in the sector.

“The resources industry contributes millions of dollars to the NT economy each year and creates thousands of jobs,” Mr Vowles said.

“In 2016/17 the value of mineral production in the NT hit a record of $3.63 billion.

“The NT Government is supporting the responsible development of the sector and attracting international companies such as Britmar to invest in the NT.”

Britmar has commercial experience in shipping, mining, infrastructure and power generation. It operates a number of mining operations, including a bauxite mine in Weipa, which is of a similar size to what they envisage with the WDR mine area.

The company has said it will operate using a local workforce, rely less on fly-in-fly-out workers, and establish a head office in Darwin.

Drew Wagner, executive director of the Minerals Council of Australia, NT Division, said this is fantastic news for the sector and the Territory.

“To see projects such as this come back on line means the Territory will finally realise results from the efforts of previous works, and for many years to come,” Mr Wagner said.

“This is proof of the shifting trend of growth and confidence in the sector once more.”

“Britmar has indicated they are keen to get things moving as quickly as possible, and it will be great to see this mine up and running again,” Mr Vowles said.