Page 32 - IB June 2017

Resources
Amex Fiji ironsand project enters next phase

By Dennis Rounds

PORT facilities at Fiji’s second largest city,
Lautoka, will take on a new look in 12
months’ time with the expected comple-
tion by then of structures to accommodate
the storing and export of magnetite-rich
ironsand.
This follows the handing over, late
May, of a 5.9 hectare wharf site by Amex
Resources Limited to Chinese port-con-
struction company, CCCC First Harbour
Consultants, to begin work on a berth, a
barge unloading facility, a washing plant, a
stockpile area, ship-loading infrastructure,
as well as workshops and offices.
Speaking at the hand-over ceremony,
Fiji’s Minister for Industry, Trade, Tour-
ism, Lands and Mineral Resources, Faiyaz
Koya expressed the hope that it would take
the Amex project in Fiji “much closer to Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources
the commencement of (ironsand) mining”. Hon. Faiyaz Koya officiating at the Amex
Resources Limited site handing over ceremony
“The construction of these facilities - to First Harbour Consultants of China.
together with the purchase of a specialized Photo: Minfo/Dinfo
marine fleet - represents a $180-million
investment. This is in addition to the left: A map showing the extraction site at the Ba River
$25-million the Company (Amex) has Delta. Photo: Supplied
already spent on exploration and other
associated works leading up to this,” Min-
ister Koya said. Amex extraction
Australia-based Amex Resources has
been granted a mining lease to extract sought after mineral,” Koya said. site: Ba River Delta
magnetite-rich ironsand resources from Amex’s ironsand mining area extends
tidal flats at the mouth of the Ba River. It over an area from Nanuya to Natunuku in
also has a prospecting licence to explore Ba which is a largely cane-farming town. THE targeted magnetite-rich iron-
other areas nearby, giving it a total of 132 The economic returns to the sugar-pro- sands resource lies predominantly
square kilometres for ironsand mining/ ducing town include employment by Amex in tidal flats at the mouth of the Ba
exploration. of a 250-stong workforce comprising both River, about 30 kilometres north-
Ironsand is naturally occurring magne- skilled and unskilled labour. east of Lautoka
tite (iron oxide) sand and is growing in Additionally Ba town, which has a his- The ironsands occur as a simple
demand as an alternative iron ore feed- tory of flooding from a “swollen” Ba River flat lying blanket of unconsolidated
stock for use in iron-making following the during heavy rainfalls, will benefit from fine to coarse magnetite-bearing
decline in global reserves of high-grade ironsand extraction which will comple- sand approximately 15 kilometres
iron ore. ment a government dredging project to long by up to 4 kilometres wide.
According to the Fiji Government, the deepen the river. It is developed from surface to
country has healthy deposits of ironsand. Amex’s port processing facility is cov- depths of up to 9.4 metres, and
Minister Koya explained, however, the ered by a 45-year lease arrangement with averages 4.3 metres in thickness.
need for careful consideration in the min- Fiji Ports Corporation Limited, comprising Much of the surface of the resource
ing of such a resource, including possible an initial 15-year term and two further is exposed at low tide.
environmental impacts. option periods. A conventional dredging opera-
“Albeit given the lease three years ago, It will provide a logistics base for the tion will be used to excavate the
I am happy to mention that Amex has dredging and barging operation for ore, at a rate of up to one million
continued to meet the compliance require- what Amex envisages as production of tonnes per month. The material
ments, so Government is willing to partner 750,000t of magnetite concentrate annu- will be pumped from the dredge
with them for mutual gain, in our respect, ally and will act as a stockpiling area for along a floating pipeline to a
economic returns and investment and the magnetite concentrate prior to final nearby barge-mounted process
in Amex’s case, a steady supply of this treatment and export.

32 Islands Business, May 2017