Thank you for joining today's teleconference for the release of Mount Gibson Iron's June quarter activities report. Mount Gibson Chief Executive Officer, Peter Kerr, will be leading the discussion and he's joined by Chief Financial Officer, Jill Dobson, and External Relations Manager, John Phaceas. Mr. Kerr will provide a brief overview, after which there'll be an opportunity to ask questions. Due to time constraints, only institutional participants will be invited to ask a question at that time. A recording of the call will also be available via the Mount Gibson website shortly after completion of today's teleconference. Thank you. Go ahead, Peter.
Thanks, Lisa. Good morning, all, and thanks for joining us to discuss Mount Gibson's June quarter activities report. As usual, I'll give a brief overview before handing back to Lisa for any questions you may have. I'm pleased to be able to confirm that the hard work of our personnel and the significant investment we've made over the last couple of years at Koolan Island, as you're all aware of, is now paying off operationally and financially and carrying on from the turnaround that was event in the prior quarter. As you can see from our June quarterly report, which we released this morning, all facets of our performance were generally positive in the period. Iron ore sales doubled to 1.35 million tons in the quarter.
Unit cash costs reduced to AUD 62 per wet metric ton that we sold FOB. The cash flow almost tripled to AUD 89 million, which meant that our cash and investment reserves almost doubled to AUD 162 million by quarter end. That was also after repayment of AUD 25 million that we drew down on the company's standby credit facility in previous quarters, as we were repairing the crushing plant that was damaged in last year's fire. In full fiscal year 2023 terms, our total sales beat our post-fire guidance at just over 3 million wet metric tons, and our unit cash operating costs averaged AUD 77 FOB per wet metric ton before inventory build and royalties.
Meanwhile, in the Mid-West, as you would be aware, we recently reached agreement to realize the unrecognized value of our surplus iron ore assets in the region, by way of a +$25 million transaction with a junior producer, Fenix Resources, that will see us become Fenix's largest shareholder and retain exposure to its high-grade operation and successful road haulage business. Just now, looking at Koolan Island in a bit more detail, iron ore production increased by almost 5% out of the pit to just over 1.1 million tons in the quarter as we moved out of the wet season into the start of the dry season.
Importantly, the waste to ore strip ratio also continued to decline to average 1.1 tons of waste for every ton of ore in the June half year, and that was from over 3.5 to 1 in the prior half year period. The strip ratio remains on track to average around 1.2 to 1 over the remaining 3-4 year life of the operation. As a key driver of cash costs for Koolan Island, in combination with the increased shipping rate that we're now seeing, this is obviously fundamental to further reducing our unit costs and increasing our cash flow. After the crusher repairs were completed in early April, as we reported in our last quarter report, our processing throughput accelerated rapidly to more than 1.1 million wet metric tons for the quarter.
At quarter end, our high-grade ore stockpiles, which were mined and available for processing, totaled 1.1 million tons. At the current prices, is worth over AUD 150 million once it's processed for sale. Our increased processing performance enabled 17 shipments totaling 1.25 million metric tons, as I mentioned, to be dispatched in the quarter, and that included 7 shipments made in the month of June, which is a recent record for us. The average shipped iron grade in the quarter was 65.5% FE, as planned, and for the full year, we were just over 3 million tons, as I mentioned, at an average grade of 65.2% FE.
With the main plant now operating productively and a separate mobile contract crushing team in place on the island to help process the stockpile material, we are targeting 5 to 6 shipments per month during the dry season, which typically runs from April through to late in the year, around December, and at least 4 shipments per wet season, which typically runs during the March quarter. These shipping rates are sufficient for us to target sales of circa 4 million tons per year going forward, and we will release more detailed guidance in our upcoming financial results release here in August. In relation to the repairs arising from last year's fire in the processing plant, we've obviously maintained and now claimed on relevant property damage insurance policies for the Koolan Island operation.
We've now received progress payments of approximately $8 million from our insurers, we're working with the insurers and the loss adjusters to assemble our final claim. We're now also liaising with the insurers regarding a potential business interruption claim arising from the fire, although at this stage, the likelihood of potential quantum of such a claim, if any, remains uncertain. The robust operational results in the quarter accelerated a significant turnaround in underlying financial performance, which began in the March quarter. On the numbers side of things, our ore sales revenues total AUD 186 million FOB. I just note that we report our numbers FOB, so at Koolan port and not CFR for delivery in China. The revenue of AUD 186 million was AUD 24 million more than the prior quarter.
It equated to an average realized price of $103 per ton FOB, which was a little over AUD 150. Shipping freight rates for Panamax vessels on the Koolan to China journey have remained competitive and ranged between $12 and $14 per ton shipped in the quarter. That was similar to the March quarter. At current prices, for which, as 65% FE iron ore is around $130 a ton CFR for delivery in China, or around $118 FOB, each Koolan shipment is worth around AUD 11 million at Koolan before royalties.
Importantly, and as expected, Koolan Island operations unit costs reduced substantially by over 25% to AUD 62 per ton FOB before royalties, and the operating cash flow as a result, almost trebled to $89 million in the quarter, up from $31 million in the prior March quarter. Consequently, the company's cash and investment reserves almost doubled to $162 million by quarter end, and this was after the repayment of the $25 million amount drawn from our corporate credit facility earlier in the year, as I just mentioned. Before leaving Koolan, I'd like to say a final word regarding the operation's safety performance.
As many of you would appreciate, any remote and logistically complex operation has challenges, and the team on site has focused very closely on safety awareness and initiatives throughout the last year, and during which we've seen the rolling 12-month total recordable injury frequency rate. This is a measure that captures medically treated, restricted work, and lost time injuries. This rate has more than halved from 10.7 injuries per 1 million man-hours worked at the start of the year to 5.2 currently. The site team and the whole workforce there is very highly commended for their performance. The Koolan team also continues to work actively with the RFDS, administering emergency assistance to the growing number of tourists who access the remote Kimberley region.
You may not hear about it, but there are a large number of incidents that occur, and we lend assistance whenever we're able. In relation to the Mid-West, on top of the performance in Koolan Island, we're also pleased to finalize a transaction to realize significant unrecognized value from our remaining Mid-West iron ore assets. The AUD 25 million sale of our Geraldton port ore storage and handling assets, along with the Shine and Extension Hill deposits, will, on settlement, deliver us AUD 10 million in cash, as well as 60 million shares and 25 million options in successful Mid-West producer, Fenix Resources. Our initial 8.6% shareholding in Fenix will make the company's largest shareholder and we have the potential to increase that in the future.
Fenix is also assuming our remaining environmental rehabilitation obligations for both Shine and Extension Hill. These are currently being provisioned on Mount Gibson's books at approximately AUD 9 million. The transaction represents an attractive opportunity to realize value for assets which were not reflected in Mount Gibson's share price, to participate via a direct equity interest in a growth-focused, high-grade, regional mining and bulk materials logistics business. Importantly, it also enables Mount Gibson to focus on maximizing cash flow from Koolan and to pursue new longer-term resources investment opportunities. We expect the settlement of the Mid-West transaction with Fenix to occur shortly. Elsewhere in the Mid-West, we retain our early-stage base metal exploration holdings around the former Tallering Peak mine, along with our entitlement or remaining entitlement to the rail credit refunds.
To date, on that refund, we've received approximately AUD 33 million, to cap AUD 35 million amount. We expect to receive the balance in the current financial year. With Koolan now performing strongly and in line with internal targets, we're targeting sales of circa 4 million tons per year over the remaining life of the operation. We also expect cash costs to reduce from 2023 levels to reflect the lower go-forward stripping ratio and higher shipping rates. As I mentioned, I'll provide more detailed guidance with our financial results next month. In summary, the June quarter was a strong indicator of significant sales and cash flow we expect to generate from the Koolan Island operation over the next few years, underlining its value as Australia's highest-grade, direct shipping ore hematite operation.
On the back of the progress, we're positive about the outlook for the current year, in particular, as for iron ore prices, the outlook there remains reasonably solid, and the weaker Australian dollar is providing us with additional support. We remain focused on the rapid buildup of our cash reserves from the Koolan operation, particularly as this will provide a robust platform to pursue new investment opportunities, complementing the potential upside of our new Mid-West investment. With that, Lisa, I'll hand back to you for any questions that listeners may have. Thanks.
Thank you, Peter. If anybody would like to ask a question, please press star one on your phone keypad now. That's star one if you'd like to ask a question. Thank you, Peter. We have 1 question. It's from Jon Scholtz from Macquarie Group. Go ahead, please, John.
Hey, guys.
Hey, John.
Just on the shipping rates, what is the constraint between winter and summer periods? Like, why is there more in the one than the other? If you can just elaborate on that.
Sure. The seasonality there is quite marked in that in the wet season, from that December through March period, there are a lot of weather interruptions, obviously heavy tropical rains, and there are times where there are many lightning interruptions as well. It just means from a productivity point of view, the operation is reduced. We have learned over many years that if we continue or try to continue the rates that we have in the dry season, we typically incur demurrage and other costs that we want to avoid. We, we basically look for lower rates during that period.
That makes sense. If you can just remind us, are the ore sources around on Koolan Island, at what stage are those? Are you able to access them, or is it just the issue of pricing with those ore sources?
John, yes, most of those are price sensitive. Within the main pit. Along strike from the main pit in the western end, there is additional material that's the bulk of the existing main pit resource. There are also one or two other satellite pits as well. The main pit resource is the higher grade one. It does carry a strip ratio, so it's a continual economic as well as technical assessment. The satellite pit resources are lower grade and higher impurities, and we work through the approvals process for those. We have approvals in mind, some, and we're working on others, but they represent really an option value at this point of time based on future iron ore prices.
Yep. Makes sense. Thank you.
Thank you, Peter. We don't have any further questions.
Okay. Thanks, Lisa, and thanks, all, for listening to us. Please, if you have any questions, contact us directly, and have a good day. Thank you.