Provided when they turn this thing on next door it works as hoped there would have to be some infra sharing arrangement for ARH. Throughput charge in exchange for shared access to processing........could save ARH project a lot of dough. *******************************************************
Citic Pacific positive on Sino Iron
Peter Williams, The West Australian November 22, 2011, 6:20 am
The bold venture to build Australia's biggest magnetite iron ore mine and a linked port facility from scratch is finally taking shape in the Pilbara as its Chinese owners attempt to put the project's difficulties behind them.
As loaders stockpile mined ore at the Sino Iron project 100km south-west of Karratha, the development's mammoth processing plant and power station are in advanced stages of construction as a workforce of about 3500 endeavours to meet the latest completion deadline.
Owner Citic Pacific insists its mid-2012 target for first shipment will be met, 18 months later than the original schedule.
The magnetite process involves crushing the mined ore to a fine powder and mixing it with water to create a slurry to be piped to the new Cape Preston port, which includes a desalination plant.
The project's 457 megawatt gas-fired power station will be mostly supplied by Apache Energy's nearby Devil Creek processing plant.
"The logistics of not just the power station but everything out here in the deserts of Western Australia is something else," construction manager John King said.
While the processing is energy hungry, Mr King said the dual-cycle turbines would deliver 40 per cent efficiency savings.
Citic Pacific Mining spokesman Rob Cory said getting the complex central processing plant and the first two mill lines operational were the key priorities.
At full capacity, the mine is expected to deliver 25 million tonnes per annum to China's steel mills over an estimated life of 25 years.
The project's construction price tag could hit $6.1 billion, compared with an original budget of $3.5 billion.
After 50 jobs were made redundant this month in an organisational restructure, Mr Cory said an ongoing review of operations would not affect the headcount.
Peter Williams visited the Sino Iron project courtesy of the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA.
ARH Price at posting:
22.0¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
