PERTH, March 30, 2026, 04:04 AWST
- Port of Ashburton is still shut following ex-Tropical Cyclone Narelle, but operations have resumed at Dampier.
- Onslow Iron is now key to Mineral Resources’ debt-reduction push. As of Dec. 31, net debt stood at A$4.9 billion.
- Pilbara Ports reports engineering inspections at Ashburton will stretch into early next week, with no timeline yet for reopening.
Mineral Resources Limited is dealing with another export snag at its Onslow Iron operation, as the Port of Ashburton—the Western Australia hub for its iron ore—remained shut through the weekend in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Narelle. As of now, Pilbara Ports’ alert page continues to show Ashburton closed, despite Dampier, its neighbor, reopening on March 28.
Timing is key here. Onslow Iron is now MinRes’ main moneymaker, with the company reporting back in February that the project hit its nameplate 35 million-tonne yearly pace in August. That translated into A$519 million in half-year underlying earnings, or EBITDA.
Mineral Resources slashed net debt by A$471 million, bringing it down to A$4.9 billion for the half-year ended Dec. 31, according to company filings. Liquidity climbed, hitting A$1.4 billion. In January’s quarterly update, MinRes reported Onslow shipped 17.3 million tonnes in the first half, while outstanding project loans on Onslow dropped to A$553 million.
Pilbara Ports announced that more engineering checks—underwater inspections and marine surveys among them—are set to run through the weekend and spill into early next week. Ashburton still has no reopening timeline.
The storm rattled several operators, but the impact wasn’t uniform. Dampier—a key port for Rio Tinto—managed to reopen Saturday, though general cargo activity is still paused after what the port operator called significant damage. Ashburton, on the other hand, stays closed pending inspections.
MinRes entered the period of disruption with numbers moving in its favor. Back in February, Chair Malcolm Bundey described Onslow Iron as “a proven, cash-generative operation”. That same month, Managing Director Chris Ellison told investors the group’s “Tier 1 assets” were producing solid cash flow. Sandstone Insights analysts noted the company had “a map and some momentum” for generating surplus cash, though they stopped short of saying MinRes was already there. Kitco
But there’s a hitch. Pilbara Ports reported that rough seas continue to hamper inspection efforts, so what started as a brief weather halt could drag on, risking a bigger shipping jam.
If inspections reveal minimal damage and Ashburton gets back up soon, the main impact looks like it’ll be some vessel delays and a possible hit to quarter-end volumes. But if the shutdown drags on, MinRes faces a bigger headache: its main source of fresh cash could dry up, complicating its efforts to shore up the balance sheet—a point the company has already flagged in recent filings.
MinRes left its fiscal 2026 volume and cost guidance unchanged for the rest of its divisions in its January quarterly update, while lifting expectations for lithium concentrate output at Wodgina and Mt Marion, citing higher production and prices. But Ashburton remains the bottleneck for now—the real test is when shipping resumes.
