THE PAST 12 MONTHS HAVE BEEN THE MOST PRODUCTIVE IN MINRES’ HISTORY.
Chris Ellison | Managing Director The theme of this year’s Annual Report is leadership. Every day, MinRes is leading innovation in the sector and across our diverse portfolio, driven by the best leaders in the industry and backed by the next generation who will drive the business for decades. This leadership has been on display throughout the year – with strong progress on the key projects that are the foundation of our future success. MinRes is a results-driven business. For 31 years we have consistently delivered outstanding returns by investing in growth, prioritising good people and quality assets, maintaining a strong balance sheet and acting quickly in the best interests of our shareholders. The past year has been no different. Mining services is our heart and continues to drive innovation and growth across our four business pillars, helping us build leading iron ore, lithium and energy businesses which will write our next chapter as a great Australian company. This diversity is our strength and has helped us weather fluctuating commodity prices and sector-wide cost pressures to deliver another strong financial performance. We have continued our proud track record of strong balance sheet management, our revenue has grown 40 per cent to $4.8 billion and underlying EBITDA is up 71 per cent to $1.8 billion. FY23 was also a period of significant investment, supporting new and expanded projects that will underpin our sustained success. We will never run a lazy balance sheet, choosing instead to keep building the projects that will sustain this company’s growth for decades.
8 I MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED 2023 ANNUAL REPORT
FY23 was a building year. Starting Onslow Iron construction, expanding Mt Marion, ramping up Wodgina, launching our first transhippers, building our first jumbo road trains, new natural gas discoveries and our first battery chemical sales – I’ve never been prouder of what we’re building. This year we also acted quickly and decisively to respond to changing market conditions and make sure our settings were right. We played to our strengths, which included adjustments to joint venture arrangements within our Lithium business that provide increased flexibility and optionality. We faced tragedy in June when an incident during construction at the Ken’s Bore site resulted in the death of contractor employee Kieren McDowall – a loving partner and father of two young boys who had his whole life ahead of him. The safety of our people is our number one priority. This tragic event has affected me and our whole team profoundly. We continue to offer every support to Kieren’s family, colleagues and loved ones. Our long-term safety performance has been strong for the industry, but we are determined to learn any lessons that help ensure our people go home safely to their families. That extends to mental health, with a renewed focus on the overall wellbeing of our people and maintaining workplaces where everyone feels safe and respected. The relocation to 20 Walters Drive contributed to a significant improvement to our employee turnover rate, which has almost halved year on year. We opened the MinRes Health Centre, which