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Thank you for joining today's teleconference for the release of Mount Gibson Iron's June Quarter Activities Report. Mount Gibson's Chief Executive Officer, Peter Kerr, will be leading the discussion and is joined by Chief Financial Officer, Gill Dobson; and External Relations Manager, John Phaceas. Mr. Kerr will provide a brief overview, after which, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Due to time constraints, only institutional participants will be invited to ask questions at that time. A recording of the call will also be available via the Mount Gibson website shortly after completion of today's teleconference. Please go ahead, Peter. Thank you.
Thanks, Bethany, and good morning all, and thanks for joining us for Mount Gibson's June 2021 quarter report. As usual, I'll give a brief overview before handing back to Bethany for any questions. Before we start, I also wanted to note that our year-end audit is underway and, therefore, that the various sales and financials figures we have quoted today remain subject to year-end audit adjustments, if any. Activity in the quarter was focused on advancing the overburden stripping investment and footwall support works and crusher upgrade at Koolan and commissioning of the Shine Iron Ore mine in the Midwest, in advance of that operation's first shipment, which is scheduled for next month. At Koolan, we made good progress with the overburden stripping program in the Main Pit, and this remains on track for substantial completion during the second half of 2021. The program is key for our business as it will set up the mine for significantly increased sales and cash flows for the remaining 5 years of its mine life. We also commenced the ground support program for the Main Pit's upper western end footwall and completed the first stage of the crushing plant upgrade. At Shine, we completed site construction, commissioned the crusher and commenced trucking the ore to the port, and that keeps us on course for the first sale next month, as I mentioned. These activities occurred during intermittent disruption from COVID restrictions in WA and around the country, and these are now starting to abide and have noticeably -- notably, rather, have caused shortages of labor and slowed the progress of key activities that are reliant on some interstate specialist skills. In terms of overall iron ore sales, we sold 481,000 tonnes of fines from Koolan Island, and these were low-grade fines, and that was almost double the volume in the prior quarter to finish the year at 1.8 million tonnes shipped from Koolan. And combined with the 1.2 million tonnes that we shipped from Extension Hill in the first half of the year, our group sales totaled 3 million tonnes in the middle of our guidance. Sales revenue totaled $41 million for the quarter and $311 million for the year. The quarter's results, which was low by relative standards to previous periods, is reflective of the sales volumes and the lower quality of that material shipped from Koolan Island, whilst the stripping program is undertaken. The average realized price for the low-grade material in the quarter was USD 66 FOB. And when that's put into CFR terms, then add approximately another $15 to $20 on top of that for CFR price, and this reflected the reduced specifications while the waste overburden stripping program is happening. The material is sourced primarily from Main Pit extremities and a satellite deposit and would typically have been stockpiled for future blending, but it can be sold for reasonable returns in this current market. Sale of the low-grade material is temporary as we head towards accessing the significant quantities of higher-grade ore in coming months. Group unit cash costs across the quarter averaged AUD 82 per tonne FOB sold; and for the financial year, AUD 66 per tonne sold, before the capitalized overburden stripping and other capital improvement projects, and this was in line with our guidance. Cash and investment reserves totaled $365 million at the end of the period, and that compares with $412 million at the end of March. The movement comprised operating cash flow of $8 million at Koolan, $40 million invested in waste stripping and $11 million in capital improvement projects. At Shine, the development costs totaled $17 million as per our plan. The Midwest rail credit and infrastructure income totaled $2 million, and interest and other income also totaled $2 million. At Extension Hill, rehabilitation costs were $2 million and the corporate and administration costs were $3 million, in line with our usual run rate, with working capital flows being positive $14 million. Turning now to Koolan in a bit more detail. As mentioned, the focus at Koolan is on the overburden stripping phase and the upper footwall geotechnical works as well as the crusher upgrade. Together, these activities, as you know, will set up the site for significantly reduced costs and increased ore sales and cash flow from later this year onwards. We remain on track to substantially complete the waste stripping program later this year, and total material movement increased 13% to 5 million tonnes of ore and waste in the quarter compared with 4.4 million tonnes in the prior quarter, and totaled 20.1 million tonnes for the full year. The quarterly release in -- sorry, the quarterly increase in total material move reflected the ramp-up in waste movement following the end of the wet season, which continued through to April. In relation to geotechnical management, in-ground instrumentation continues to show the Koolan seawall is performing well and to design expectations. Regarding the island-side footwall of the Main Pit, we have commenced on-wall drilling and bulking to secure the base rock and priority zones, to remove the risk of rock falls like the one we experienced in late October last year. Mobilization of specialist contractor personnel and equipment commenced in April, with initial work starting in May. And work rates are now increasing, but efforts are being impacted by the interstate COVID travel restrictions, unfortunately. The program is forecast to cost approximately $20 million over the following 6 months, and both Mount Gibson and the contractor are seeking ways to increase productivity and decrease the cost. This program will progressively allow mining access to the high-grade zones in the western half of the Main Pit from the end of September onwards. And until then, we will continue to extract the available lower- and medium-grade iron ore from the zones we're mining within the Main Pit and from the satellite pit. The initial stage of the crusher upgrade project was completed as scheduled in the quarter, with the final stage currently scheduled for completion in the December quarter, in line with our ore volumes. The existing crushing plant is being maintained to handle the forecast near-term volumes. The total capital investment for the upgrade project is estimated at $20 million to $25 million, of which $7 million was spent in the quarter and $11 million has been spent to date. The upgrade will ensure the crushing circuit is capable of processing the significantly increased volumes of high-grade ore that we scheduled to occur from later this year onwards. In relation to costs, site cash costs before the waste stripping investment and capital upgrade projects were in line with guidance at AUD 69 per wet metric tonne FOB in the quarter, and they averaged AUD 70 per wet metric tonne sold for the year. In relation to cash flow, the Koolan Island site generated operating cash flow of $8 million in the quarter before capitalized waste stripping investment of $40 million and other capital projects of $11 million. For the year, the site generated $121 million before the waste stripping investment of $138 million and capital projects of $22 million. So you can see this is very much our investment year for that waste movement. In relation to the Midwest, our focus has been on development of the Shine project, which is located approximately 85 kilometers north of the now closed Extension Hill mine site. Production from Shine is targeted at 1.5 million tonnes per annum for an initial 2-year period, and there is potential for a further 2 years at a similar rate if conditions remain positive. Site construction is largely complete, mining commenced in March and crushing started at the end of June. Ore is presently being trucked by road from Shine approximately 300 kilometers to Mount Gibson storage facilities at Geraldton Port. The first shipment is scheduled for next month, [ just want to note that ].Mount Gibson intends shortly to recommission its existing Ruvidini rail siding at the town of Mullewa, which will facilitate a reduced road haul distance from Shine and a rail journey for the final 100 kilometers into Geraldton Port. Ruvidini siding was established some years ago for Mount Gibson's Tallering Peak mine, which closed in 2014 after 10 years operation. Much of the time frame with the reestablishment of the Ruvidini side is related to road and government approvals, and we're working through those. Current trucking activities from Shine will progressively increase over the coming months as drivers and trucks become available in what is now a tight market for trucking contractors. Capital development and preproduction expenditure at Shine during the full financial year totaled $29 million, consistent with our guidance, including $17 million in the June quarter. We anticipate cost pressures during the initial trucking phase. We're obviously seeing some of those now, notably, while haulage volumes rise towards the targeted 1.5 million tonne per annum rate. However, current and anticipated prices more than compensate for those pressures, and we'll give specific guidance for the '21-'22 financial year when we release our full year results in August. At Extension Hill, the rehabilitation of the closed site has advanced to plan. We had a provision for rehabilitation of $9 million for closure at 31 December. And with the work that's been undertaken, this has reduced to around $5.7 million at 30 June 2021. Infrastructure remaining on site includes the crushing plant and accommodation camp, and we've had expressions of interest from various parties regarding those assets, which could help offset future rehabilitation costs. While no sales were recorded in the Midwest business in the quarter, we did accrue $2 million for the ongoing historic rail refund credit, which continues to come to us. Regarding exploration and business development activities, whilst we've been investing at both Shine and Koolan, we have continued on a number of fronts here. And we do see potential development and investment opportunities to grow the business and focusing in bulk commodities and base metal sectors. To date, we purchased equity positions in 6 junior resources companies, which are considered to have the potential for future financing or strategic opportunities, and these investments currently have a market value of approximately $13 million, and there are various discussions ongoing about those opportunities. In addition, we've continued to assess various greenfields and brownfields exploration opportunities for base metals deposits in the Midwest region. And this month, we have just entered into a farm-in agreement covering various prospective exploration tenure to the north of the former Tallering Peak mine. A number of target areas also have been identified for further testing on our existing tenure in this region. At the Port of Geraldton, where we own substantial storage and export infrastructure, we have also entered into agreements to provide third parties with access, surplus storage capacity and product handling services on commercial terms. And these agreements are generating some additional revenue streams for us from our existing capacity, which isn't required currently for the Shine project. So in closing, as planned, the quarter was focused on a number of key investments at Koolan Island and the start-up of the Shine operation, which has gone well, as we head towards increasing our sales and cash flows from both operations in the coming 3 to 6 months. So on that note, I'll hand back to you, Bethany, for any questions that anyone may have.
[Operator Instructions] Our first question is from Jon.
Just a question on the realized pricing. Could you maybe give us what percent of that was really due to grade? And how much was it actually due to the ore quality that was shipped out there? What was the impurities and the penalties surrounding that big discount?
Sure, Jon. It's actually a combination of the 2. As you know, the -- as grades of the iron grades fall, there's a steep discount from the various indices, the lower you go. So that's one aspect. But the other aspect is at Koolan Island, what you don't get in iron, you pick up in silica. And so the silica grades of the material that we sold, which would normally be -- this material would normally be blended, but we chose to sell it into this high-price market, was up around the 18% to 20% level for silica. So that carries a substantial penalty for the Platts market information or other market information that is used for those contracts. And so that's really a driver behind why that price is lower than in prior periods.
Okay. And how should we think about life extensions at Koolan in terms of the satellite pit sort of stuff when there's such a steep discount for some of those projects that's not -- products that's not in the main bench?
Sure. The best way to think about that is, for instance, were we to access the Mangrove deposit, which is an aim or were we to extend the Main Pit at the east and west extremities in due course, we would be blending that material. So the idea is we wouldn't be selling it as a stand-alone product. We would be blending it in with the high grade from the Main Pit progressively over time. And so that would actually reduce, in a minor way, the grade will increase the penalties of the product we're selling. But not to the extent of selling those products by themselves. And at this stage, we have commented that the mine plan or the Main Pit is currently understood, and the reserves are our reserve statement, which support the 5-year mine life. To the extent we can pick up additional material, we will. And Mangrove, itself, we don't know how many tonnes that might support, but I would think it might be the equivalent of an extra 0.5 year to 1 year maximum of that order. And that's the work that we're looking to do once we have some additional drilling into that deposit.
Okay. Just one more on the trucking costs, could you give us maybe an incremental of what the cost pressure is around trucking at this point? Like what's the difference between what we would have seen per tonne last year to this year?
Look, difficult to quantify at the minute. We'll do that with our full year results. But what we are seeing is a lack of drivers. And some drivers in the Midwest, the various contractors operating there do reside in interstate locations. And so that's obviously caused a problem. The other aspect too is actually trucking equipment, so prime movers and trailers. And we are working with contractors already, and we have trailers and prime movers moving for us. But we are seeking to ramp up that fleet as rapidly as we can.
[Operator Instructions] Thank you, Peter. It seems we have no more questions at this time. I'll hand back to you.
Thanks, Bethany. Thank you all, and you'll be able to find this transcript release recording on our website. And if you do have any queries, please don't hesitate to call John or myself. Have a good day. Thank you.
Thank you, everyone. As the call has finished, you may disconnect your phone lines. Thank you for attending.