Bauxite Hills Mine

Metro Mining’s Bauxite Hills Mine is approximately 95 kilometres north of Weipa on Western Cape York.

The Bauxite Hills Mine positions Metro as one of the largest independent operations within the international renowned Weipa bauxite region on Cape York where the company’s total tenement package covers approximately 1,900 square kilometres.

Mining operations commenced in mid-April 2018. The mine plan is based on 92.2Mt Reserves giving the mine a 17-year mine life. There is potential to extend the mine by conversion of the existing Bauxite Hills Resources to Reserves, as well as from exploration success in the company's approximately 1,900 sq km regional tenement holdings.

Now fully operational, the Bauxite Hills Mine employs up to 200 people with an indigenous workforce of approximately 30% and around 80 people on site at any one time.

The Bauxite Hills Mine is:

• A simple mining operation where free-dig bauxite is mined by front-end loaders then trucked between 6 - 22km to a port infrastructure area
• At the port, bauxite is screened to a maximum product size of 100mm and fed into the Barge Loading Facility (BLF) to load awaiting barges 
• Tugs tow the barges down the Skardon River and out to an anchorage point beyond the river mouth where awaiting freight vessels are loaded with bauxite
• Mining operations are undertaken in the dry season only, which is notionally an 8 month period from April to November