That $6bn TenderBook..., page-149

NWH obtained some preliminary work at FMG's Iron Bridge mine some years ago – see http://www.fmgl.com.au/in-the-news/...mal-traditional-owners-on-iron-bridge-project. If there is more to be done there, NWH may obtain some of the work via a JV with the traditional owners. On FMG's plans for Iron Bridge, see https://thewest.com.au/business/min...idge-magnetite-to-the-new-year-ng-b881034996z

I have for years been wary of magnetite projects, because the two or so that proceeded in the past, were economically disappointing. However, I have at the same time thought that magnetite would in the flow of time be viable, for four reasons:

• There is so much of magnetite in Australia, that when miners find direct-ship-ores (DSO) harder to locate, the world would have to rely on beneficiated magnetite.
• The end product of magnetite beneficiating is high-quality ore, much in demand by China.
• Technological advances in magnetite beneficiation could be expected over time.
• The price of steel is fairly insensitive to the price of the ore, so when cheap high-grade DSO cannot be had, the steel mills will have to adjust to the extra cost of beneficiating that is needed to produce quality ore from magnetite.

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