Min Res completes $230 million upgrade of trouble-plagued Pilbara iron ore haul road

Road trains are carrying iron ore from Mineral Resources’s Ken’s Bore mine in its Onslow Iron project to Ashburton port at normal road speeds after the company finished upgrading its 150-kilometre private haul road.

The road surface was beset with issues after it was completed last October, which the company said related to road sealant and binder that degraded under higher temperatures, load and water.

There have been seven road train accidents on the road since it was opened.

The issues on the road prompted a Worksafe investigation and enforceable undertaking notice to fix the problems.

In February, the company announced it would spend $230 million to upgrade the road.

The works included upgrading the road seal and cement stabilisation to enhance the strength of the road surface and prevent moisture from damaging it.

The width of the road is now 11 metres, two metres wider than most heavy haulage Pilbara roads.

The company said Onslow Iron was still on track to reach nameplate capacity of 35 million tonnes of iron ore annually after having shipped 3.2 million tonnes in August.

Mineral Resources Managing Director Chris Ellison said Onslow Iron continued to perform strongly even during the upgrade of the private haul road.

“The resumption of unconstrained haulage marks another significant milestone as we focus on safely delivering the project’s FY26 volume guidance,” he said.

“Onslow Iron is now established as a cash generative, low-cost asset that underpins the deleverage of our balance sheet while driving stable, long-term growth.”

In September last year Mineral Resources sold a 49 per cent stake in the haul road to Morgan Stanley Infrastructure partners for $1.1 billion.

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