CU-River Mining to build Port Augusta port to export its magnetite iron ore from Cairn Hill

CU-River Mining's Cairn Hill magnetite iron ore operations, 55 kilometres south east of Coober Pedy.
Image courtesy CU-River Mining

CU-River Mining bought Port Augusta’s former power station 1068ha site from Flinders Power in 2019, with plans for $250 million port to handle iron ore, grain and other commodities. The port would become the export site for CU-River’s Cairn Hill mine, 55 kilometres south east of Coober Pedy, capable of producing three million tonnes of magnetite iron ore annually.

CU-River Mining company wants to grow this to 15 million tonnes per annum by 2026 with its nearby Snaefell and Tomahawk projects.

Port Augusta’s port would have an annual capacity of up to 15 million tonnes but potential for than 50 million tonnes per annum. Besides exporting magnetite iron ore to the Chinese steel industry, CU-River envisaged the port to have many commercial uses, including the possibility of a solar farm. Key infrastructure, including the 5km rail loop and unloading systems,made the site suitable for a port.

CU-River Mining agreed to take over rehabilitating and revegetating the former power station site. It has previously exported 90% of its ore through Flinders Ports at Outer Harbor.

CU-River Mining was founded by Adelaide-based Yong Gang Shan in 2014 when it bought the mothballed Cairn Hill iron ore mine from IMX Resources and gave it a $20 million revival. It later secured funding for an $800 million expansion in 2018. This helped South Australia’s magnetite strategy goal of producing 50Mt of magnetite iron ore per year by 2030.

CU-River Mining has worked closely with the Cooper Pedy community and the Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara traditional owners since it started operations at Cairn Hill.