Nick Evans, The West Australian July 5, 2013, 7:28 am
BC Iron managing director Morgan Ball says the buyout of Fortescue Metals Group's remaining 25 per cent stake in the Nullagine joint venture would be his number one acquisition target, but said both companies were comfortable with the existing arrangements.
Originally a 50/50 joint venture, BCI lifted its stake in Nullagine to 75 per cent at the end of last year, in a $190 million deal that included a Fortescue agreement to haul an extra one million tonnes of ore each year to take the mine's total production to 6mtpa.
Speaking onsite at Nullagine yesterday, Mr Ball said BCI had pushed for a higher stake during those negotiations. "For me, if I were to talk about growth opportunities on a risk-rated basis, that would be one of my priorities, absolutely," he said. "It's certainly something I'm happy to put on the table with them . . . In fact, when we did the last 25 per cent we talked to them about taking a bigger chunk and they were very comfortable with sticking to that 25 per cent holding."
Having paid off $US48 million of the $US130 million credit line that partly funded last year's Fortescue transaction, and with $120 million in the bank, Mr Ball said the company was in a net cash positive position. The strength of BCI's balance sheet had prompted speculation it was on the acquisition trail.
But Mr Ball said that while BCI had growth ambitions and was actively looking at acquisition opportunities, most proposals put before the company had not stacked up after more than a cursory examination.
BCI's perceived lack of ambition had served it well, according to some analysts. The "development risk" associated with the ambitious growth plans of other miners, combined with a broader downturn in the market, had weighed heavily on their share price.
With no expensive expansion plans on its horizon, the market has been left free to focus on the steady stream of cash flowing into BCI's coffers. Because of this the comp any had outperformed its peers over the past six months.
Mr Ball said he was in no particular hurry to change that.
"We've got seven to 10 years mine life left at Nullagine, and after that if what makes the most sense is to pack up, rehabilitate the site and return all the cash to shareholders, then that's what we'll do," he said.
BCI's short-term focus was to extend its resource base at Nullagine, with the company about to kick off a beneficiation program to turn lower grade ore on its waste dump into a saleable product.
An initial program that would convert about 320,000t of ore with 49 per cent iron content into 170,000t of saleable product was expected to begin in August or September.
The reporter travelled to Nullagine as a guest of BC Iron.
