The maiden shipment had been due to occur tomorrow, with invited guests to witness the occasion in Port Hedland.
“Roy Hill advises that due to progressive commissioning and operational and safety constraints on first shipments required by the Pilbara Ports Authority, the departure of the first shipment of ore by Roy Hill on MV Anangel Explorer is now rescheduled until next week,” the company said in a brief statement.
The MV Anangel docked at the newly completed Roy Hill Wharf on Monday and started loading ore.
The $A10 billion project had originally been slated to achieve first ore on ship by the end of September, but experienced delays.
Following first ore on ship (FOOS), Roy Hill will slowly ramp to 55 million tonnes per annum of iron ore.
Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting is the biggest shareholder in Roy Hill with a 70% stake.
The remaining 30% interest is owned by a consortium of companies comprising POSCO Corporation (12.5%), Marubeni Corporation (12.5%) and China Steel Corporation (2.5%).
