Pacific Resource vessel (left) alongside Berth 3 loading Gold Valley iron ore while another vessel arrives at Berth 2. Photos: Southern Ports.
A second, much larger iron ore load from Gold Valley’s Wiluna West mine has departed the Port of Esperance two months on from its maiden shipment through the port.
Southern Ports loaded than 170,000 tonnes of ore onto the Pacific Resource for its newest customer before the ship’s departure on Thursday December 12.
Esperance has the only WA port south of the Pilbara capable of hosting “cape class” ships, and the Weekender understands this is the reason Gold Valley stopped shipping from Geraldton.
Southern Ports chief executive Keith Wilks said it was pleasing to send off another of its shipments from the port.
“The first shipment of a new customer is always exciting, but in a lot of ways the second shipment can be more significant as it demonstrates continued supply, demand and smooth execution,” Mr Wilks said.
“This shipment included an additional 100,000 tonnes more than what was loaded on the first vessel two months ago, and that is a testament to Gold Valley’s supply of iron ore and how we’ve been able to be solutions-focused to facilitate trade.
“Our teams have done a tremendous amount of work to accommodate a second iron-ore customer over the past couple of months.
“Our Port of Esperance iron-ore circuit was not originally designed to be shared by multiple customers – now that we have shown it can be agile and work this way, it presents new opportunities for how we can work with prospective customers in the future.”
Southern Ports’ commitment to carrying out upgrades at the Port of Esperance is continuing while opportunities to welcome more new customers are being explored.
This includes the $2.8 million improvement to CV26, an important conveyor in the Port of Esperance.
