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Workers to be redeployed in Iron Knob wind-down

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GFG Alliance is moving ahead with plans to put its Iron Knob hematite and magnetite iron ore operation in South Australia into care and maintenance, with plans underway for the 350 affected staff.

The workers operate under mining contractor Golding, a subsidiary of NRW Holdings. SIMEC Mines operates the Middleback Ranges mines, which hosts Iron Knob, but its three-year $600 million services contract with Golding is set to end on January 31.

Mining has been taking place in the Middleback Ranges since the 1890s. After over 120 years in production, GFG said Iron Knob is nearing depletion.

“GFG will be placing mining and processing operations at Iron Knob into care and maintenance in accordance with the currently approved regulatory plan under the Program for Environmental Protection and Rehabilitation until it completes a comprehensive assessment on the viability of extracting the remaining resource from a technically difficult pit,” a GFG spokesperson said, as reported by the ABC.

Iron Knob is one of several GFG mines that feeds iron ore into the company’s $1.3 billion Whyalla Steelworks.

After a period spent out of action, the Whyalla blast furnace was recently brought back online. Now, GFG is in the process of transforming the operation into a green steel powerhouse.

With Whyalla back in production, GFG is anticipating a ramp up in capacity and plans to increase the number of front-line permanent GFG roles at the steelworks over the coming months.

“Where possible, we will look to facilitate redeployment opportunities for affected contract workers,” the GFG spokesperson said.

“GFG will continue to work with all contract partners involved to carry on its mining and processing activities at other mine sites.”

Other mines in the Middleback Ranges include the Iron Baron and South Middleback Ranges sites. GFG’s Ardrossan dolomite mine supplies dolomite flux to the steelworks, as well as a coking coal mine in Tahmoor, New South Wales, which supplies coking coal required for blast-furnace steelmaking.

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