Metro Mining has posted record second-quarter shipments and bumper margins as its expanded Bauxite Hills operation taps a strong bauxite market.

The company reported record site margins of $32 per wet metric tonne (WMT) in its latest quarterly report – a 500 per cent increase year on year and 83 per cent up on its last full quarter of operations in late 2024.

It came as its Cape York bauxite operation produced and shipped 1.7 million WMT in the quarter, 19 per cent up on the same time last year.

“The high margin and cash generating potential of Metro’s Bauxite Hills operations is now apparent as we see the rapidly implemented expansion deliver into a robust bauxite market environment,” chief executive officer and managing director Simon Wensley said.

“We are experiencing the benefit of lower freight and other delivery costs already, and I expect the economies of scale to emerge as we unleash the operation from the constraints of this last quarter.

“The market for our material also seems positively primed as sovereign risk issues play out elsewhere in the market, and our experienced sales, operations and corporate teams are ready to capitalise on the opportunities ahead.”

Related: Bauxite Hills kicks into gear for 2025 export season

Quarterly shipments would likely have been 15 per cent higher, however output was constrained for about six weeks due to limits on the barging channel after a severe tropical storm over the Easter period.

Metro said it had taken the opportunity to perform a three-day maintenance shutdown in June, bringing forward planned activity from Q3.

Metro said its Bauxite Hill expansion flow sheet, implemented in the second half of 2024, was now fully online and it had sufficient system capacity in place to deliver 6.5 to 7.0 million WMT for the calendar year.

The company has received approval for the expansion of mining pits BH1 east and BH1 west at the Bauxite Hills operation.

The expansion will enable Metro to extend its mining footprint to extract remaining bauxite identified in the pit walls. It is expected a further one million WMT of bauxite may be available from the expansion.

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