The board of Fenix Resources has given its approval to relaunch operations at the Shine Iron Ore Mine in Yalgoo, Australia.

Fenix plans to commence site works this quarter, with iron ore production scheduled to begin in the December 2024 quarter.

The decision to proceed with the Stage 1 mine plan follows a thorough review including in-pit drilling, product sampling and updated resource modelling.

The approved budget for Stage 1 is A$7.4m ($4.98m). This phase involves camp infrastructure upgrades, contractor mobilisation and access road improvements.

Located 295km from Geraldton and 70km south-east of Yalgoo, the Shine open-pit mine was acquired by Fenix in July 2023 from Mount Gibson Iron, along with other Midwest iron ore assets.

Mount Gibson purchased Shine's mining rights from Gindalbie Metals in March 2014 and subsequently invested more than A$25m in development, starting production in March 2021.

However, operations at the mine were suspended in October 2021 due to increased haulage costs and a fall in iron ore prices.

Fenix executive chairman John Welborn said: “The restart of mining operations at Shine is an obvious opportunity to expand Fenix’s production and leverage our excellent Mid-West mining and transport logistics capabilities.

“Shine will be our second wholly owned producing asset in the Midwest and is planned to nearly double our annual production levels in the near term, which will result in increased revenues, stronger cash flows and profitability growth.

“Fenix is committed to unlocking value from the abundant valuable resources of the Midwest and the obvious place to start is with the resources that we own and control.”