great coverage in today's financial review

Think it's going to be a good year for Indo Mines.

Miner finds partner for Indonesian iron
Ayesha de Kretser
Indonesia-focused iron ore and coalminer Indo Mines has linked up with Japanese trading giant Mitsui to explore developing a pig iron facility in Jogjakarta.
Indo Mines chief executive Martin Hacon said details of the contract with Mitsui were confidential but there
was no agreement that the Japanese trader would market the pig iron - which is a type of crude iron used to produce steel - that was produced.
"We haven't signed any agreement that they�d be trading the product," Mr Hacon said.
The company is still on track to release a bankable feasibility study for development of a 2 million tonne-a-year iron sands concentrate operation by June.
The pig iron plant would follow once cash flow was established from the iron sands project, as part of a
commitment to the Indonesian government to invest in downstream industry.
"It also makes good economic sense," Mr Hacon said.
Indonesia is one of Asia's fastest growing economies, but ranks relatively low in steel consumption per capita.
It is also reliant on imports of iron ore and coal to produce crude steel, as well as slabs to produce finished
steel.
Indo Mines expects to enter production of the 2 million tonne-a-year concentrate operation by mid-2012, at an
indicative capital cost of just $100 million or $50 a tonne. This compares with costs of about $190 a tonne for
BHP Billiton's recently released Pilbara expansion plans.
Indo Mines expects to fund development of the concentrate project through a mixture of forward sales or offtake agreements, as well as debt and equity.
"Through offtake we expect to be able to cover around $50
million of our costs," Mr Hacon said.
The company's management said there was substantial interest in the projects at the "Mines and Money"
conference that was held in Hong Kong recently.
"There was a lot of interest in terms of potential offtake and assisting with funding," Mr Hacon said.
Doubling the size of the operation from 2 million tonnes a year to 4 million tonnes a year could be done for
about $25 million to $30 million, given that almost 70 per cent of the initial capital expenditure would be sunk
into associated port and mine infrastructure.
No firm plans have been struck for funding the pig iron works, but Mr Hacon said the company would "almost certainly be looking for partners".
Although the iron sands product produced by Indo Mines would have higher impurities because of its titanium
content, Mr Hacon was confident the company would find a market in China.
Tianjin-based steel maker Rockcheck Steel has a 10 per cent stake in Indo Mines and is understood to be keen to secure offtake.
Mining iron sands is a relatively cheap process. Mr Hacon indicated mining costs would be about $20 a tonne.
In the current market, the type of concentrates Indo Mines expects to produce would attract about $75 a tonne, highlighting the potential for the company to generate cash flow quickly.
Mr Hacon joined Indo Mines from BlueScope Steel's New Zealand steelworks, which produces 600,000 tonnes a year of slab from iron sands.
The Australian Financial Review