The Company listed on the ASX in December 2006 as BC Iron Limited, an iron ore exploration and development company focused on the Nullagine Project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
BC Iron established the Nullagine Joint Venture with Fortescue Metals Group Limited (Fortescue; ASX:FMG) in 2009 and in 2011, achieved the significant milestone of becoming the first junior mining company to use both third party rail and port infrastructure owned by a major company in the Pilbara.
Nullagine was highly successful for BC Iron and delivered circa $100M in dividends to shareholders. The Company’s Nullagine stake was sold to Fortescue in October 2016 and, while operations are currently paused, BCI retains a royalty on future production.
In August 2014, the Company announced a recommended off-market takeover offer for Iron Ore Holdings Limited. The transaction delivered a significant iron ore reserve and resource base from two projects – Iron Valley and Buckland – as well as an early-stage solar evaporation project at Mardie, some exploration projects and iron ore royalties over third-party projects in the Pilbara.
Iron Valley commenced exports in October 2014 under the operatorship of Mineral Resources Limited (ASX:MIN).
In mid-2016, the Company was renamed BCI Minerals to reflect its evolving asset portfolio and the history of BC Iron.
The Mardie Salt and Potash Project became the Company’s key focus following completion of a Pre-Feasibility Study in June 2018. A decision to divest non-core assets was made, resulting in the sale of the Kumina ($35M) and Buckland ($20M) iron ore projects plus ongoing royalities.
BCI released Definitive Feasibility Study results from the Mardie Project in June 2020, which demonstrated outstanding technical and economic potential. In April 2021 the optimised feasibility study confirmed that Mardie can become a Tier 1 asset categorised by its long life, scale, low operating costs and high-quality salt and SOP products.
In 2022, BCI commenced main construction of the Mardie Project.
In June 2024, BCI Minerals announced it would sell the Iron Valley iron ore assets to Polaris Metals Pty Ltd (Polaris), a wholly owned subsidiary of Mineral Resources Limited and receive up to $72.6M. The sale was completed in July 2024.