Thank you for joining today's teleconference for the release of Mount Gibson Iron's September quarter activities report. Mount Gibson Chief Executive Officer Peter Kerr will be leading the discussion and is joined by Chief Financial Officer Gill Dobson and External Relations Manager John Phaceas. Mr. Kerr will provide a brief overview, after which there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Due to time constraints, only institutional participants will be invited to ask questions at that time. A recording of the call will also be available via the Mount Gibson website shortly after the completion of today's teleconference. Thank you, and go ahead please, Peter.
Thanks, Lisa. Good morning everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss Mount Gibson 's September 2025 quarterly report. As usual, I'll give a brief overview before handing back to Lisa for any questions. Just as a reminder, all currency we mention on the call is denominated in Australian dollars unless otherwise stated. The September quarter was much as we had flagged. Shipments were steady while we completed the last phase of bulk stripping in the eastern end of the main pit at Koolan Island to set the mine up for increased production and sales in the coming 12 months, its final 12 months of operation. As expected, we drew down marginally on the group's cash reserves during the quarter, and we now expect to reverse that situation as production lifts progressively and cash costs reduce.
Operationally, we remain focused on safely maximizing shipments and cash flow from Koolan Island over the next 12 months. In addition to this, we're also excited about completing and moving ahead with our AUD 50 million acquisition of a half interest in the Central Tanami Gold Project. As we said on our last call, we view this transaction as an attractive opportunity to advance one of Australia's larger and highest grade undeveloped gold projects to a development decision within 12 - 18 months. It also represents a critical step in our broader strategy to reposition the company as a diversified long-lasting minerals producer. Firstly, in relation to safety, while our positive safety performance generally continued, we did unfortunately incur a small number of avoidable restricted work and medically treated injuries during the quarter. Reporting practices are very good on the site.
Importantly, the lost time injury frequency rate remains at zero incidents per 1 million man-hours worked, and our total recordable injury frequency rate increased from 2.3 - 4.8 injuries per 1 million man-hours worked. Overall safety performance remains favorable when compared with any of the available industry benchmarks, but of course, any increase is unwelcome for us, and all of our teams are applying significant effort to maintain our broader long-standing trend of continuous improvement. At Koolan Island, as I noted in my intro, the quarter was largely as we expected while we completed the final phase of bulk stripping in the eastern end of the pit. We also finished the remedial ground support work in the rockfall zone on the central footwall, and that's allowed us to start extracting the high-grade iron ore below that area.
Consequently, total material movement increased by 20% to 2.6 million tonnes in the quarter, while ore production reduced to 540,000 tonnes, and the waste-to-ore strip ratio increased by 30% compared with last financial year, and it averaged 3.9 tonnes of waste to one tonne of ore in the quarter. With that overburden stripping now complete, the strip ratio will progressively reduce to average around one to one over the remaining life from here onwards, while iron ore production will build over that time. That should result in a substantial corresponding reduction in unit cash costs over that period. Processing for the quarter was in line with mining production, and we completed seven shipments totaling 550,000 tonnes, grading 64.3% Fe. Two shipments were completed in each of July and August, and then three in September as we started to step up rates.
Three of those seven shipments were medium grade, which is actually a bit of a misnomer for us because our medium grade is around 63%- 63.5% Fe, which is still very high for others. That was because we had some stockpile blend available, which worked in this market. Going forward, we expect run-of-mine grades to remain around 65% Fe, with the occasional sale of a 63%- 63.5% cargo to take advantage of available stockpiles and market conditions. Our remaining ore reserves of 4.1 million tonnes at 65% Fe at 30 June, which we announced to the market on the 6th of October, will see mining and sales conclude a year or so from now, subject to any delays arising from the coming northern Australian wet season.
We continue to track toward our sales target for this financial year, that's fiscal 2026, of 3 million- 3.2 million tonnes at an average cash operating cost of AUD 80 - AUD 85 per tonne, equivalent to roughly $50 - $55 per tonne FOB before royalties. In terms of pricing, it was good to see a modest uplift in the quarter. The benchmark index for 62% Fe iron ore fines rebounded to average $102 per tonne CFR, and that was up from $98 per tonne in the prior quarter. The benchmark high-grade 65% Fe index averaged $117 a tonne CFR compared with $108 in the prior quarter. The grade adjusted premium, when you compare the 65% Fe price and the 62% Fe price, averaged 9.8% in the quarter, which was welcome, and that was up from 5.7% previously.
After shipping costs of approximately $12 per tonne on the journey from Koolan to northern China and normal penalties for impurities, which are primarily silica related for us, we realized an average price for the quarter of $92 per dry metric tonne FOB, and that compared with $68 in the prior quarter, which back then was affected by substantial downward provisional pricing adjustments. Encouragingly, iron ore prices are proving resilient at current levels, and we look forward to increasing the mine's production and cash flow in future quarters. Reflecting the temporary lower sales and increased waste mining movement, Koolan Island incurred a modest cash outflow of AUD 4 million in the quarter, comprising sales revenue of AUD 75 million, less cash operating costs of AUD 61 million, equated to an average of AUD 111 per tonne sold FOB before royalties.
We also incurred capitalized waste mining costs of AUD 9 million, some project work of AUD 2 million, which was mainly related to the footwall remediation finish, and W.A. government and third-party mineral royalties of AUD 7 million. At a group level, cash outflow totaled AUD 3 million, and that comprised the AUD 4 million outflow that I just mentioned from Koolan, corporate and exploration costs of AUD 4 million, and that was all offset by AUD 5 million in interest and other income. On top of all that, we also had a AUD 12 million increase in the market value of the company's strategic investment portfolio, and when combined with our working capital outflows, reflecting the timing of receipts and payments, the company's cash and investments balance at the end of the quarter remained a robust AUD 473 million, and that's the equivalent of about AUD 0.40 per share, and Mount Gibson has no bank debt.
Turning now to our growth strategy and the recent announcement of our acquisition of 50% of the Central Tanami Gold Project from Northern Star Resources. We've spoken about this important move previously, so I'll avoid being repetitive here, other than to say we're really excited about the opportunity. The timing of the transaction looks very good. It looks like compelling value and is at attractively priced entry points to the gold sector, particularly given recent gold price movements, which of course many people had not foreseen. With substantial resource upside at that project, we can leverage our operating experience and our strength in remote site operations from our team. As many of you will know, we need to satisfy three key conditions by the end of March next year for the transaction, and ideally we do that much sooner.
They are the non-exercise by the remaining joint venture partner, and that's Tanami Gold, and that was already done some time ago, a foreign investment review board approval, which is well underway, and we will update the market as and when we receive communication from the FIRB team in Canberra, and a further extension of existing infrastructure arrangements on one tenement by the Central Land Council in the Northern Territory. Once the acquisition settles, we intend to work closely with Tanami Gold to position within the joint venture for a development decision within 12 - 18 months. It's also important to note that pursuant to our agreement with Northern Star , the existing joint venture partners continue to progress resource definition and technical study work, and that's resulted in Tanami Gold itself releasing a number of positive drilling results since we announced our transaction.
We're very much looking forward to getting the keys so we can get to work using our existing funding capacity and our existing strong supportive relationship for both Tanami Gold and Mount Gibson of a common major shareholder. In relation to our other investments, the portfolio value has continued to build, increasing to approximately AUD 31 million at quarter end, of which roughly half reflects our near 5% interest in Queensland copper producer AIC Mines. Subsequent to quarter end, we also contributed AUD 1.5 million to an equity placement by Queensland base metals mine developer, Maronan Metals, and that lifted our holding in that company to 5.1%. These investments are in addition to the 9.7% shareholding held in Mid West iron ore producer Phoenix Resources. That shareholding arose from our Mid West assets divestment transaction back in 2023, and the value of that shareholding at quarter end was approximately AUD 35 million.
We've also expanded our regional exploration portfolio, notably in the Edmund Basin in Western Australia's Gascoyne region. It's an area that's highly prospective for precious and base metals, but has been largely unexplored due to its remoteness. We have assembled a land position there covering over 1,600 sq km , in which we've already undertaken extensive reconnaissance mapping, sampling, and airborne magnetics, and we have an airborne gravity survey scheduled to commence shortly in order to help us plan for drilling in 2026. Corporately, our on-market share buyback program of up to 10% of the company's issued shares was necessarily paused back in April while our negotiations with Northern Star on the Tanami transaction advanced, and at that point in time, we had bought back 38.8 million shares, or approximately 3.2% of the company's issued shares, at a little over AUD 0.31 per share.
This has obviously proved to be an accretive investment for shareholders, and since that time, we've extended the program by a further 12 months to 30 September 2026. Before I wrap up, I'd also like to highlight an important item on the agenda of our coming AGM on the 12th of November, which underlines our new direction. At that meeting, we'll be asking shareholders to approve a change of name to MGX Resources Limited. We think it's an opportune time for the change, and it better reflects our new direction with Koolan Island due to come to an end later next year and our center of gravity moving into gold and base metals. Importantly, by aligning our name and our ticker code we've had since we listed back in 2002, we've retained recognition with investors as well as continuity with the organization's history.
In summary, operationally, we remain focused on safely maximizing production over Koolan's remaining 12 months, and we're targeting to contribute substantial cash flow to our business over that period. Secondly, of course, we're working to close out the Central Tanami Gold Project acquisition as quickly as we can, and that will enable us to get to work with our joint venture partner and accelerate the activities necessary for a development decision. This is an environment where structural investment changes are occurring in precious metals, and gold prices are expected to remain strong. Finally, we look forward to forging an exciting path as MGX Resources to build a high-quality Australian precious and base metals business. With that, Lisa, if I could hand back to you for any questions that may arise.
Thank you, Peter. If anybody would like to ask a question, please press star one on your phone now. Star one on your phone if you'd like to ask a question. Thank you, Peter. We have no questions.
Okay, thanks, Lisa, and thank you all for all of you on the call. If you do have questions or queries in relation to our outputs, please don't hesitate to call. The numbers are in the release. Have a good day. Thank you.