N.Z. Steel to double capacity

Press, 4 August 1977, Page 23

N.Z. Steel to double capacity

PA Hamilton By the end of this year New Zealand Steel, Ltd, will be able to export iron ore concentrate at a rate of 2.2 M tonnes a year from Taharoa — double the present rate. The company has invested SI6M to expand its present mining activities — which are the most extensive in New’ Zealand.

By November the plant will be able to load 100.000 tonnes of ore in 32 hours — at present it takes 48 hours to load 45,000 tonnes. With the advent of the Japanese 100,000 tonne “super carriers,” facilities are being geared accordingly. The prime con tributor to the faster loading will be the twin pipeline. which has already been laid. This will link up with a new buoy now under construction at Onehunga. Slightly larger than the existing buoy of 11m, the new one will be sited 3km from the shoreline. "It will be anchored in 30m of water to give the larger ships enough

depth,” the production manager, Mr John Hogan, said.

The pumphouse facilities had also been doubled, he said, and work on these had now been completed. The new part of the mining activities will be quite different, Mr Hogan said. Until now the iron ore had been dredged. “The expansion will incorporate a different approach to mining, using bulldozers.”

The system will be introduced at the site of the new mining area, south of the present dredge, because the sand has been found to lie in varying thicknesses.

“There is a lot of clay in the area, and it can be as little as 5m below the surface and as far dow r n as 20m,” Mr Hogan said. "Because of this the landbased mining plant will be introduced.”

Since the first Japanese ship w’as loaded with Taharoa iron ore on October 18, 1972, more than 5M tonnes has been exported he said.