Business
16 July, 2025
New rail line could revive North West ore deposits
A line from Cloncurry to Karumba could benefit more than just the phosphate industry.
The proponent behind an ambitious plan to construct a rail line from Cloncurry to Karumba says that other commodities could cash in on the project.
Colin Randall, the executive director of Chatham Rock Phosphate, says the proposed plan to connect his Korella North phosphate mine to the Port of Karumba may also pave the way for magnetite exports.
A magnetite plant operated at the Ernest Henry mine near Cloncurry from 2011 to 2013 under Xstrata’s ownership of the site, producing magnetite concentrate as a by-product of the copper-gold concentrating process.
In 2013, some 600,000 tonnes were shipped from Townsville just prior to exports ceasing.
Mr Randall said the transport of magnetite could add to the long-term viability of that company’s proposed RailPhos project, connecting Cloncurry and the Port of Karumba by rail.
Like phosphate, magnetite is a bulk commodity – with Chinese steel mills being the major customer for current Australian producers.
At the time Ernest Henry magnetite exports stopped, then Xstrata Copper North Queensland chief operating officer Steve de Kruijff cited an erosion in prices and high logistics costs as factors.
“The magnetite has been accumulating in the tailings ponds ever since,” Mr Randall said.
Like Ernest Henry, the Eva copper project about 70km north of Cloncurry is also based on a major iron oxide copper gold deposit.
“Harmony’s proposed Eva copper mine lies on the path of the Cloncurry- Karumba rail line,” Mr Randall said.
“At this stage there has been no reference to exporting magnetite, but with a low-cost transport option and ready connection to the Port of Karumba, sales of magnetite might provide another important factor in the decision to develop the mine.”
The RailPhos project would connect Cloncurry and Normanton by rail and include an extension to Karumba, with preliminary estimates placing the cost around $4 billion including loading facilities.
Chatham is in discussions with a potential joint venture partner.