Mineral Resources has sold its 49% interest in the Onslow Iron haul road to investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners (MSIP) for A$1.3bn ($866m).  

After receiving unconditional approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board, the transaction is now scheduled for completion within 15 business days.  

Mineral Resources will receive an upfront cash consideration of A$1.1bn from MSIP. An additional A$200m will be paid to MinRes subject to Onslow Iron achieving a 35 million wet metric tonnes per annum run rate for any quarter before 30 June 2026. The company expects to reach this from June 2025.  

Onslow Iron has now shipped more than 1mt of iron ore from West Pilbara to Onslow since first ore on ship was achieved in May 2024. Shipments are reportedly increasing in line with the ramp-up plan, with 134,000 tonnes (t) exported in July 2024, 532,000t in August 2024, and 720,000t expected to be shipped in September 2024. 

The 150km haul road and project operations are scheduled for completion in October 2024, when Mineral Resources also expects positive cash flow from Onslow Iron. 

Mineral Resources managing director Chris Ellison said: “Under this unique partnership, Mineral Resources maintains majority exposure to the stable earnings the haul road will deliver over the project’s life.” 

The cost of constructing the haul road has contributed to an increase in the company’s net debt, which reached A$4.4bn in June.  

The company is focusing on preserving its cash following a rapid decrease in the price of iron ore and lithium. On 5 September, it finalised an iron ore repayment plan worth A$594m with commodity trader Trafigura.  

Recently, Mineral Resources was prompted to conduct a safety investigation as two of its jumbo triple-trailer trains rolled over in separate incidents at access points around Onslow Iron. Neither of these incidents happened on the dedicated haul road, which remains under construction.