News: Rutila pursues Pilbara export facility

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Transcription of Finance News Network Interview with Rutila Resources Limited (ASX:RTA) Director, Matthew James



Donna Sawyer: Joining me is Rutila Resources (ASX:RTA) Director, Matthew James.  Matthew welcome to FNN.



Matthew James: Thank you Donna, it’s very good to be here.



Donna Sawyer: Matthew, Rutila Resources recently released the updated definitive feasibility study for the Balla Balla vanadium, titanium and magnetite project. What has changed in the project and how has that impacted on costs?



Matthew James: Yes, well we bought the project from Atlas (ASX:AGO) about 18 months ago and it had the old Feasibility Study data in there. So we’ve updated the costs for 2013 costs and there’ve also been some technical changes. We’ve replaced the slurry pipeline that was going to Port Hedland with an export facility, directly off the coast of Balla Balla. We’ve also been able to increase the coarseness of the grind, so that’s lowering our energy costs. And the overall impact of that is we’ve taken $300 million off the capital costs, so going from $1.3 to $1 billion. So that’s a significant decrease.



Donna Sawyer: You’ve mentioned an export facility on the coast of the Pilbara at Balla Balla. What’s the difference between an export facility and a port?



Matthew James: Well a port is generally an inland harbour port, so there’s a lot of dredging required, wharves to be built etc. With an export facility, we’re building a jetty directly off the coast. So it’s a much lower impact from an environmental perspective and it’s also a lower cost, on a per tonne basis for export.



Donna Sawyer: So tell me about the progress of the export facility?



Matthew James: So we received both our State and Federal environmental approvals. We’re in the final stages of negotiating our Native Title Agreement, which we anticipate will be completed by the end of this year. That will allow the Department of Mines and Petroleum to grant our tenure to take us to the coast. Once we have that, then our discussions with the Department of Transport are progressing very well for the issue of both the seabed lease and jetty licence, which are necessary licences we require.



Donna Sawyer: What’s the estimated capacity and cost of the export facility?



Matthew James: So our feasibility study which is focused on Balla Balla, the capacity is six million tonnes per annum. That’s what we’re approved for and the cost of that is about $375 million for the export facility. However, with brownfield expansion, we recognise that we can quickly and very easily expand to 20-24 million tonnes, for probably about another $100 million. And then as we add more trans-shipment vessels, we could even increase that beyond $50 million tonnes for further brownfield expansion costs.



Donna Sawyer: So can it be accessed by roads or rail?



Matthew James: Well we’re very lucky, we have the North West Coast Highway running right by our property. So from a public road perspective, it can be accessed by truck. We’ve also studied some private haul road routes down into the central Pilbara region, and also rail routes. And both of those are showing that we have a viable route into the central Pilbara region, where there may be some Australian assets that will benefit from this.



Donna Sawyer: So it sounds like that has some big implications for miners who struggle to get access to export infrastructure in the Pilbara. Can you explain what that port may mean for those players?



Matthew James: Yes, there are a number of junior miners who are struggling to get access to export facilities. Whether it be a port in itself or rail to get to a port, both of those assets in the Pilbara are pretty much at capacity or controlled by companies that are using them, or plan to use them at their capacity. So having a new export facility in the Pilbara will open up for the Australian assets, an export route. And we are, you know, looking to work with such companies to see whether we can develop the port as a standalone project, rather than necessarily linking directly to our Balla Balla operation.



Donna Sawyer: So now that you’ve made this progress, are there anymore hurdles to clear?



Matthew James: Well from the port perspective, as I mentioned we’re sort of very close to being fully approved. We both have environmental and other approvals in place. If we look to our expansion plans like down into the central Pilbara that will require further approvals, from both an environmental, heritage and also State agreement perspective. And that may take another 12 to 18 months for the expansion into the central Pilbara area.



Donna Sawyer: Finally Matthew, what does this project mean for Rutila Resources, particularly once the export facility is in operation?



Matthew James: Well what it means to Rutila is that now we have two valuable key assets, the mine at Balla Balla but also the port. And we think the port actually may get up even prior to the mine. What that means for the mine, is that actually we can take $375 million of capex off the mine development cost, so making it more competitive as well.



Donna Sawyer: Matthew James thanks for speaking with FNN and good luck with the project.



Matthew James: Thank you very much Donna.



Ends