Mine Planning

The process of designing and organising mining operations to maximise efficiency, safety, and profitability while minimising environmental impact.

Material Topic Information

Why it matters

Robust mine planning is vital to ensuring the safe, economic, responsible and sustainable production of iron ore from existing and future Fortescue iron ore deposits.

Ambition

We strive to be the safest and most productive iron ore operator in the Pilbara. At end of mine life, we will ensure the closure of our mines and key infrastructure areas is undertaken in a planned approach, with appropriate financial provisioning in place.

Contributing to SDG's

Salient Human Rights Issues

Materiality

Mine Planning at Fortescue

Effective mine planning is fundamental to Fortescue’s operations and long-term sustainability. It ensures that we can responsibly extract resources while minimising environmental and social impacts, optimising resource use, and planning for closure and rehabilitation. By integrating sustainability considerations into mine planning, we aim to deliver value to our stakeholders while preserving the ecosystems and communities around our operations.

Key elements of our approach

Mine planning at Fortescue involves a range of activities including resource modelling, waste and tailings management, and closure planning. These processes are designed to maximise the value of our natural resources while mitigating risks and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. Our approach is guided by international best practices, including the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM), and supported by robust governance frameworks.

FY25 Highlights

In FY25, Fortescue demonstrated progress in several key areas of mine planning.

Annual independent technical reviews of all TSFs confirmed compliance with regulatory requirements, reflecting our commitment to maintaining the highest levels of safety and environmental stewardship.

A maturity assessment of our mine closure plans, conducted against the newly-updated ICMM Integrated Mine Closure: Good Practice Guide, identified opportunities for continuous improvement, which will inform future strategies.

Collaboration also remained a key focus. At Eliwana, we worked closely with the PKKP people to integrate closure and rehabilitation into co-management agreements, while our involvement with the Cooperative Research Centre for Transformations in Mining Economies advanced innovative approaches to mine waste remediation and land rehabilitation. These initiatives highlight our commitment to sustainable mine planning and meaningful stakeholder engagement.

FY25 Performance

A full breakdown of our FY25 mine planning data, including waste rock volumes, tailings volumes, closure plans and land disturbance data is provided in our FY25 ESG Databook.

Read our FY25 ESG Databook

Impacts, dependencies, risks and opportunities

Fortescue’s mine planning balances environmental, economic, and community impacts while fostering sustainability through innovation, collaboration, and post-mining land use opportunities. Effective planning mitigates risks like waste management failures and ensures operational efficiency, stakeholder trust, and long-term positive outcomes for ecosystems and communities.

Fortescue’s mining activities can have significant impacts on the environment, economy, and surrounding communities.

Mining involves large-scale land disturbance, which can impact biodiversity and disrupt ecosystem functions. Climate change may exacerbate these impacts by increasing the vulnerability of ecosystems to stressors such as altered rainfall patterns or temperature extremes. Tailings Storage Facilities (TSFs), essential for managing waste, must be carefully managed to prevent containment failures that could harm people and the environment. Ineffective rehabilitation and closure planning may also lead to long-term challenges, such as landscape scarring, biodiversity loss, and reduced land value.

Fortescue’s mine planning efforts also create opportunities for positive impacts. Comprehensive closure planning can enable the restoration of ecosystems and creation of post-mining land use opportunities, such as conservation or community development projects. Collaboration with First Nations people and local communities ensures that mine planning incorporates cultural values and fosters trust, enhancing our social license to operate. Effective tailings and waste management practices also help minimise environmental risks and maximise resource efficiency.

Fortescue’s business depends on effective mine planning to ensure operational efficiency and sustainability. Accurate resource modelling and robust waste management processes are essential for optimising resource use and maintaining compliance with regulatory requirements.

We depend on the natural environment, including land and water resources, to support mining activities. Mine planning allows us to manage these dependencies responsibly, ensuring that our operations remain sustainable while minimising impacts on ecosystems and communities.

Mine planning involves a range of risks that could impact Fortescue’s operations and reputation.

One of the most significant risks is the potential for TSF failures, which could result in severe regulatory penalties, operational disruptions, and reputational harm. Ineffective mineral waste management could lead to excessive waste generation, reducing production efficiency and increasing costs.

TSF failure incidents are considered a material risk for the business, as described in more detail in our Corporate Governance Statement which is available in the FY25 Annual Report in our Document Library.

Closure planning poses additional risks, including inadequate financial provisioning or insufficient planning for long-term rehabilitation. Poor closure outcomes could result in non-compliance with regulatory commitments or negative social and environmental consequences.

To mitigate these risks, Fortescue employs a comprehensive mine planning framework that integrates risk assessments, regulatory compliance, and stakeholder engagement. This framework is supported by monitoring systems and adaptive management strategies that allow us to address emerging challenges effectively.

Mine planning risk is closely linked to climate change. For further details on how we enhance our resilience to physical risk, particularly with regards to tailings management, please refer to the Climate Change Report in our FY25 Annual Report in the Document Library.

Mine planning presents significant opportunities for Fortescue to enhance sustainability and create value for stakeholders.

Leveraging innovation and technology allows us to improve resource modelling, waste management, and rehabilitation practices, driving operational efficiency along with environmental outcomes.

Collaboration with communities and First Nations peoples during the mine planning process fosters trust and ensures that local values are incorporated into decision-making.

Planning for post-mining land use creates opportunities for conservation, community development, and other positive outcomes, which can benefit the environment and local communities while strengthening Fortescue’s reputation.

Our Mine Planning Strategy

Fortescue’s mine planning strategy is designed to balance resource extraction with environmental and social responsibility. It is built on four key pillars: efficient resource use, sustainability integration, risk management, and collaboration and innovation.

Efficient resource use involves maximising the value of extracted materials while minimising waste. Sustainability integration ensures that environmental and social considerations are embedded into all stages of mine planning. Risk management focuses on identifying and mitigating risks associated with tailings, waste, and closure. Collaboration and innovation involve engaging with stakeholders and leveraging technology to improve planning outcomes.

This strategy is supported by comprehensive policies, such as the Tailings Management Policy and Environment Policy, and site-specific management plans and guidelines that ensure alignment with regulatory requirements and stakeholder expectations.

A Closer Look

Managing Mine Planning

Governance

For tailings management specifically, in alignment with the GISTM, the CEO Fortescue Metals and Operations is responsible for providing the resources to fulfil the roles to meet the requirements of the Tailings Management Plan and the Tailings Management Policy. Externally, our nominated qualified and competent Engineers of Record provide technical support to our stakeholders, including appointed Responsible Tailings Facility Engineers who are responsible for the successful operation, safety and integrity of tailings storage facilities.

Policies and standards

Fortescue's Tailings Management Policy states our commitment to achieve general compliance with the GISTM. Our Environment Policy also outlines commitments relating to mine planning, including the efficient use of raw materials and responsible disposal of mined waste and tailings.

Our Policies are supported with a structured framework of internal standards and plans, helping us to achieve our commitments:

Major Hazards Standard
Tailings Management Plan
Tailings Management System
Waste Standard
Mineral Waste Management Plan
Mine Closure Standard
Mine Closure Plan Drafting Procedure.

Compliance

Fortescue complies with the laws and regulations where we operate. Key mine planning-related regulation includes the Mining Act 1978, Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994, Work Health and Safety Act 2020, Native Title Act 1993, and the Environmental Protection Act 1986, in particular requirements under Part IV and Part V of the act. The Chichester Hub mining operations are also regulated under the Iron Ore (FMG Chichester Pty Ltd) Agreement Act 2006.

Fortescue's mining operations are located within Western Australia and all activities must be carried out in compliance with the minimum requirements outlined by the Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety (LGIRS), and the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER), including:

Code of Practice Tailings Storage Facilities in Western Australia
Guide to Departmental requirements for the management and closure of tailings storage facilities
Guide to the preparation of a design report for tailings storage facilities
Guidelines on the Safe Design and Operating Standards for Tailings Storages
Guidelines on the Development of an Operating Manual for Tailings Storage
Tailings Dam Audit – Guide
Statutory Guidelines for Mine Closure Plans.

Our closure and rehabilitation activities are also guided by closure-related requirements within our Native Title agreements.

Externally, we also align with the Australian National Committee on Large Dams Guidelines, the International Network for Acid Prevention's Global Acid Rock Drainage Guide, and the Leading Practice Sustainable Development Program for the Mining Industry's handbook on Tailings Management and benchmark our mine closure plans against the ICMM Integrated Mine Closure: Good Practice Guide.

Reporting

Mine planning disclosures are a critical component of Fortescue's sustainability reporting practices. Statutory and voluntary reporting of mine planning data, including waste rock, tailings and closure planning, is regularly undertaken to meet our obligations and commitments.

Fortescue maintains a register of TSFs on our website, which is updated annually. Our Tailings Storage Facility Register is available in our Document Library.

Our mineral waste management and closure planning disclosures for facilities within our operational control align with GRI Standards, including GRI 306 'Waste 2020' and selected components of the newly-released GRI 14 'Mining Sector 2024'.

Managing Mine Planning

Mineral Waste

Mineral waste refers to mine overburden or waste rock, uneconomic waste material (such as tailings) or other forms of mineralised waste. We aim to minimise the volume of mineral waste produced and handled, while maximising the extraction of iron ore.

Mineral waste can contain hazardous materials, including acid and/or metalliferous drainage (AMD), spontaneous combustion or reactive ground, and fibrous minerals. At Fortescue, we undertake geochemical characterisation studies to understand any hazards associated with our mineral waste. Under current mine plans, interaction with AMD material will occur at two of our five Pilbara mine sites; Iron Bridge and Eliwana. In FY25, AMD material is under active management at Iron Bridge, where this material is being encapsulated in waste dumps in accordance with an AMD Management Plan.

Waste Rock
At Fortescue, waste rock is stored on site in free standing waste rock dumps or placed in completed mine pits as backfill material.
Tailings
Our iron ore processing facilities in the Pilbara generate a fine-grained waste by-product, referred to as tailings.
Tailing Storage Facilities
Fortescue maintains 13 TSFs at our Pilbara operations; five of which are active, two are closed and six are inactive, either decommissioned in care and maintenance, awaiting closure.

Closure and Rehabilitation

Fortescue’s commitment to responsible mine closure and rehabilitation is to meet our regulatory obligations, address stakeholder expectations, minimise our long-term environmental impacts and footprint, and align with our broader sustainability goals to ensure sustainable post-mining land use and positive legacy outcomes for our host communities and the environment.

We update our present closure obligation every six months, with independently audited financial provisions for closure and rehabilitation provided as part of the consolidated financial statements within our Annual Report. Our closure cost estimate methodology is periodically reviewed by an independent party to ensure currency with industry practice, which was most recently completed in April 2024.

Planning for closure starts during the study phase of a project and continues throughout the mine life to ensure that the impacts of mining can be managed in an environmentally, socially and economically responsible manner.

Fortescue currently has six mine sites that require a compliance mine closure plan to be submitted to the relevant regulator. These include our five operational mine sites at Christmas Creek, Cloudbreak, Solomon, Eliwana, Iron Bridge, and one non-operational mine site at Nullagine. Closure information for these sites is provided in the FY25 ESG Databook located in our Document Library. We also have established, regulator-approved closure plans for our rail network and our renewable energy and transmission projects.

Although none of our sites are expected to fully close within the next decade, we undertake site specific closure planning studies and field trials to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed closure strategies documented in our closure plans.

Where opportunities for reuse and repurposing cannot be realised, infrastructure will be removed and mining-related landforms and disturbances will be rehabilitated to ensure they are safe, stable, non-polluting, integrated with the surrounding landscape and able to support functional ecosystems.

An implementation schedule for rehabilitation activities is included in each mine closure plan. Currently, our progressive rehabilitation activities are focused on research, field trials, and progressively rehabilitating limited areas of disturbance via backfilling with waste rock to enable the future completion of final surface works. We have commenced the process of integrating rehabilitation planning in to our long term planning process and will continue to make progress in FY26.

Minor work areas where progressive rehabilitation has been completed to date are monitored regularly to track their performance towards completion criteria. Sustainability monitoring procedures consider local environmental issues, using indices such as plant species diversity and composition and erosion.

Our Actions

Fortescue integrates environmental and operational considerations from the earliest stages of exploration through to closure. This includes detailed material characterisation, strategic siting of infrastructure, and the prioritisation of backfilling over creating new mineral waste landforms. Through rigorous planning, monitoring, and adaptive management strategies, Fortescue ensures that mineral waste and tailings are responsibly managed and closure and rehabilitation processes are adequately planned and costed, to safeguard people, the environment, and future land use opportunities.

Mineral Waste

Fortescue’s actions to manage mineral waste and mitigate impacts align with the mitigation hierarchy.

We undertake surveys and studies to understand and characterise our materials.

Mineral waste properties are initially assessed during the drilling programs that support exploration. Our geologists visually identify rock layers which may pose a risk for AMD as well as other hazardous materials. Selected samples are then characterised to allow for classification and flagging in our geological and mining models. Throughout resource definition and operations, ongoing drilling allows for further logging, characterisation and refining of mine geology processes and ensures validation and confidence in our models. Ultimately, these models are used to create inventories of mineral wastes, allowing for management of timing, avoidance of risk, and scheduling for mining and backfilling activities.

We also undertake tailings studies to identify opportunities to minimise tailings generation, reprocess and recycle tailings (circularity measures), and minimise water content of produced tailings.

We consider sustainability objectives during scoping, siting and design of mine pits and mineral waste infrastructure.

Mineral waste is stored in on-site waste rock dumps and TSFs. Where possible, disturbance of geological units with identified materials risks are avoided during mine planning. We prioritise the backfilling of pit areas over constructing large waste or tailings landforms, reducing re-handling of waste and decreasing our carbon footprint. This approach also increases the opportunities for developing sustainable land use practices.

We use multi-criteria alternatives analysis to select and demonstrate the most appropriate tailings storage strategy for each individual TSF, to minimise risk and impact to people, the environment and our business while optimising ore processing outcomes. During the TSF planning and design phase, we consider the location of infrastructure, employees and communities, areas of environmental and cultural significance, topography, geological and climatic conditions, surface and groundwater, future land use, tailings characteristics and seismic activity in the area.

We implement sustainable, adaptive impact mitigation strategies.

Ongoing management plans and strategies for all operational sites, including TSFs, are developed through analysis of regulator-approved impact assessments, industry best practice, progress reports, regulator submissions, further studies and stakeholder engagement.

We implement our Tailings Management System, including our Tailings Management Plan, to maintain the safety and integrity of our TSFs, including impacts to health and safety, environment and heritage, legal/compliance, reputation, production loss and revenue/cost, social surrounds and the economy.

We manage and monitor our mineral waste facilities in compliance with our regulatory approvals.

Our TSFs are monitored according to internal monitoring and surveillance programs that include daily, fortnightly, monthly and quarterly visual inspections and instrumentation surveillance monitoring and alarm systems. All TSFs are inspected annually by the Engineer of Record. We also undertake annual independent audits and dam safety reviews every five years at minimum.

Any actions arising from audits or inspections are captured in Fortescue's Business Management System.

Mine Closure

Fortescue adopts an integrated mine planning and closure management approach which begins during the feasibility phase and continues throughout operations. This approach ensures alignment with stakeholder expectations and regulatory requirements, reducing risk and allows for identification of post-mining opportunities, such as future land value or strategic business benefits.

Mine closure is a key consideration during the feasibility phase of a mine. During early stages, closure outcomes are agreed with stakeholders and site-specific strategies are created to minimise impacts. Throughout operations, rigorous long, medium and short term mine planning practices help to minimise the risk of poor closure outcomes and potential serious safety, environmental or heritage incidents.

We develop and maintain a mine closure plan for each of our mine sites. Mine closure plans document the key actions and strategies to address potential long-term negative mine closure and rehabilitation impacts and achieve agreed outcomes. This process also identifies risks and actions to manage the potential financial, social and environmental risks and feasibility of mine closure. Closure risk assessments are undertaken throughout the operational life of a mine guide closure strategies and designs, ensuring effective rehabilitation activities and future land use.

The small scale progressive rehabilitation that has been undertaken to date is monitored annually, with outcomes used to inform future rehabilitation activities.

Managing performance

Fortescue ensures that mine planning outcomes are monitored, reviewed, and reported where relevant. Outcomes of monitoring, audits and regulatory reporting are used to assess compliance and, identify opportunities for improvement, and guide the effectiveness of our mine planning processes.

Review reports have confirmed that our TSFs are designed, built and operated in line with the relevant industry guidelines. The most recent review confirmed all applicable recommendations raised as part of the previous audit have been completed.

Performance indicators relevant to mine planning include an annual assessment of whether mine closure plans are in place for each mining operation. In FY25, mine closure plans were in place for our five active and one inactive mines.

Each mine closure plan contains long term closure outcomes that are high level objectives to ensure that collectively the post-mining land use identified in the plan can be achieved. In order to measure success in meeting these closure outcomes, completion criteria are developed specific to each closure outcome, including specific measurement or monitoring requirements. When these criteria are met, then the closure will be considered to have been successfully implemented.

As our mines are not currently nearing closure, our annual closure planning reports reflect limited progress to date in meeting closure criteria.

A full breakdown of our FY25 Mine Planning data is provided in our FY25 ESG Databook located in our Document Library.

Additional Resources

Digital Library

Date
Title
Category
30 Jun 2023
FY23 Tailings Storage Facility Register
Download document(1.79 kb)
30 Jun 2024
FY24 Tailings Storage Facilities Register
Download document(1.71 kb)
30 Jun 2025
FY25 Tailings Storage Facilities Register
Download document(0.40 kb)
26 Aug 2025
FY25 Annual Report and Appendix 4E
ASX Announcements, Reports and Results, FY25 Full Year, FY25 Sustainability Report, Sustainability Report
Download document(13.90 mb)

Mine Planning

Material Topic Information

Why it matters

Ambition

Contributing to SDG's

Salient Human Rights Issues

Materiality

Mine Planning at Fortescue

Key elements of our approach

FY25 Highlights

In FY25, Fortescue demonstrated progress in several key areas of mine planning.

Annual independent technical reviews of all TSFs confirmed compliance with regulatory requirements, reflecting our commitment to maintaining the highest levels of safety and environmental stewardship.

A maturity assessment of our mine closure plans, conducted against the newly-updated ICMM Integrated Mine Closure: Good Practice Guide, identified opportunities for continuous improvement, which will inform future strategies.

FY25 Performance

Impacts, dependencies, risks and opportunities

Impacts

Dependencies

Risks

Opportunities

Our Mine Planning Strategy

A Closer Look

Managing Mine Planning

Governance

Board and Committees

Executive Oversight

Tailings Management

Corporate Support Functions

Policies and standards

Fortescue's Tailings Management Policy states our commitment to achieve general compliance with the GISTM. Our Environment Policy also outlines commitments relating to mine planning, including the efficient use of raw materials and responsible disposal of mined waste and tailings.

Our Policies are supported with a structured framework of internal standards and plans, helping us to achieve our commitments:

Major Hazards Standard

Tailings Management Plan

Tailings Management System

Waste Standard

Mineral Waste Management Plan

Mine Closure Standard

Mine Closure Plan Drafting Procedure.

Compliance

Code of Practice Tailings Storage Facilities in Western Australia

Guide to Departmental requirements for the management and closure of tailings storage facilities

Guide to the preparation of a design report for tailings storage facilities

Guidelines on the Safe Design and Operating Standards for Tailings Storages

Guidelines on the Development of an Operating Manual for Tailings Storage

Tailings Dam Audit – Guide

Statutory Guidelines for Mine Closure Plans.

Our closure and rehabilitation activities are also guided by closure-related requirements within our Native Title agreements.

Reporting

Mine planning disclosures are a critical component of Fortescue's sustainability reporting practices. Statutory and voluntary reporting of mine planning data, including waste rock, tailings and closure planning, is regularly undertaken to meet our obligations and commitments.

Fortescue maintains a register of TSFs on our website, which is updated annually. Our Tailings Storage Facility Register is available in our Document Library.

Our mineral waste management and closure planning disclosures for facilities within our operational control align with GRI Standards, including GRI 306 'Waste 2020' and selected components of the newly-released GRI 14 'Mining Sector 2024'.

Managing Mine Planning

Mineral Waste

Waste Rock

Tailings

Tailing Storage Facilities

Closure and Rehabilitation

Closure plans

Sustainable Rehabilitation

Our Actions

Mineral Waste

Surveys and studies

Scoping, siting and design

Impact mitigation strategies

Monitoring

Mine Closure

The small scale progressive rehabilitation that has been undertaken to date is monitored annually, with outcomes used to inform future rehabilitation activities.

Managing performance

Fortescue ensures that mine planning outcomes are monitored, reviewed, and reported where relevant. Outcomes of monitoring, audits and regulatory reporting are used to assess compliance and, identify opportunities for improvement, and guide the effectiveness of our mine planning processes.

Review reports have confirmed that our TSFs are designed, built and operated in line with the relevant industry guidelines. The most recent review confirmed all applicable recommendations raised as part of the previous audit have been completed.

Performance indicators relevant to mine planning include an annual assessment of whether mine closure plans are in place for each mining operation. In FY25, mine closure plans were in place for our five active and one inactive mines.

As our mines are not currently nearing closure, our annual closure planning reports reflect limited progress to date in meeting closure criteria.

A full breakdown of our FY25 Mine Planning data is provided in our FY25 ESG Databook located in our Document Library.

Additional Resources

Related Topics

Climate

Biodiversity

Circularity

Water

Sustainability Stories

Digital Library