NEWTON RES: A rockfall accident occurred at the KOOLAN operating area of the main supplier
NEWTON RES announced that its main supplier Koolan experienced a rockfall accident on October 16, 2025, which led to the suspension of mining activities in the Koolan area. Koolan is a long-term supplier of hematite to NEWTON RES, and the accident has affected the shipments originally scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2025. Nevertheless, other operations of NEWTON RES are still running normally, and discussions are ongoing with Koolan regarding iron ore supply and assessing the impact of the accident
According to the Zhitong Finance APP, NEWTON RESOURCES (01231) announced that on October 24, 2025, Mount Gibson Iron Limited (MGI) (the parent company of Koolan Iron Ore Pty Limited (Koolan) and a company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: MGX)) issued an announcement regarding a significant rockfall incident that occurred on the evening of October 16, 2025, in the main pit area on the eastern side of its hematite mine on Koolan Island. Koolan is a major supplier of hematite, and according to the long-term hematite supply agreement with the group, Koolan is required to supply and sell hematite from the Koolan mining area to the group at a price determined by an agreed market pricing formula, with an annual quantity equal to 80% of Koolan's total available production for each contract year, until the Koolan mining area permanently ceases operations.
According to the MGI announcement, considering the time and investment required to mitigate safety risks associated with potential instability in the affected area of the Koolan mining area, especially given the limited remaining mining life of the Koolan mining area (which was originally scheduled to expire around September 2026 before the incident), MGI believes that remediation work and the resumption of mining operations in the rockfall-affected area are not feasible. Therefore, MGI announced that mining activities in the Koolan mining area have now been suspended, while processing operations for available ore stockpiles will continue to meet recent scheduled shipments, and it may additionally sell previously reserved lower-grade ore intended for mixed use. Following the incident, Koolan has also notified the group that it must postpone several shipments originally scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2025.
As of the date of this announcement, all major business aspects of the group are operating normally. The group is currently in discussions with Koolan regarding its iron ore supply and is assessing the overall impact of the incident on the group's business
