North
West Iron Ore
Alliance
Media
Announcement
Monday
4 August 2008
NORTH
WEST IRON ORE ALLIANCE
MAINTAINS PRESSURE FOR FAIR AND EQUITABLE THIRD PARTY INFRASTRUCTURE ACCESS
The North West Iron
Ore Alliance has further outlined its case for the establishment of third party
infrastructure access in the Pilbara, today announcing it has submitted
responses to the recent draft recommendations from both the Pilbara Rail Access
Interdepartmental Committee (PRAIC) and the National Competition Council (NCC).
The Alliance
announced today (Monday) that it intended to play an active role in
shaping the framework for a third party access regime by participating in the
PRAIC and NCC consultation processes, and remained strongly committed to
working towards a constructive solution with other stakeholders in the Pilbara.
Independent Chair of
the North West Alliance, Ms Megan Anwyl, said access to existing infrastructure
remained a fundamental necessity to the formation of a sustainable, viable and
successful junior iron ore industry in the Pilbara.
?We believe that BHP
Billiton and Rio Tinto have a legal obligation to allow rail haulage to third
parties under their various State Agreements, and that this would lead to a
healthy diversification of the iron ore industry in the Pilbara and better
social and economic outcomes for its residents and the nation as a whole,? she
said.
?If fair and
equitable infrastructure access is not granted, some mine sites would not be
financially viable, or production could be severely limited due to the
environmental, social, financial and potential licensing restrictions relative
to the trucking of iron ore,? Ms Anwyl continued. ?Further, the State Government
has a clear policy preference towards rail over road transport.?
?The four members of
the North West Iron Ore Alliance ? Atlas Iron, BC Iron, Brockman Resources and
Ferraus ? therefore have an obligation to their shareholders to negotiate a
workable solution for the transportation and shipment of their ore through the
Pilbara,? she commented. ?We have been very encouraged by the draft PRAIC
regime and NCC recommendation, and look forward to providing further input
towards the final outcomes through the responses we have submitted.?
Ms Anwyl said one of
the key PRAIC recommendations the Alliance
had made was to support the need for the appointment of a strong Regulator to
ensure a timely, effective and equitable access regime.
?It is important that
the interests of all parties are balanced, and that there is an independent
body to ensure that this balance is maintained,? she said. ?The North
West Iron Ore Alliance therefore supports the need for a strong Regulator who
would be responsible not only for approving such factors as the pricing and
costing of the rail haulage regime, as but also for key issues such as capacity
and service level principles, safety principles and capacity modelling
principles.?
The North West Iron
Ore Alliance was formed in 2007 to support the development of a junior iron ore
sector in the Pilbara. The member companies ? Atlas Iron, BC Iron, Brockman
Resources and FerrAus ? have agreed to cooperate on issues such as
infrastructure development and access, statutory approvals and community
development.
Collectively the
members of the North West Iron Ore Alliance have the potential to deliver over
50 million tonnes of iron ore per annum by 2014, generating approximately $165
million in State royalties per annum.
?ENDS?
Released by:
Nicholas Read / Kate Bell
Read Corporate
Phone: +61 8 9388 1474
|
On behalf of:
Megan Anwyl
Chair ? North West
Iron Ore Alliance
Mobile:
0417 949 900
|
Background on members
of the North West Iron
Ore Alliance:
Atlas Iron Limited - www.atlasiron.com.au
Atlas Iron (ASX: AGO) has one of the largest land holdings in the
Pilbara region covering over 6,000km2. The Company is preparing to
commence production of direct shipping grade iron ore (DSO) resources from
Pardoo Project, 75km from the public access port at Port Hedland, in the second
half of 2008. Targeting production of 1 million tonnes per annum in its
first year of operation, Atlas is forecasting its production at Pardoo will grow
to 3 million tonnes per annum by 2010 with further substantial growth expected
on the basis of its aggressive ongoing exploration effort. Atlas has recently
upgraded its exploration target to 120-180 million tonnes.
BC Iron Limited - www.bciron.com.au
BC Iron (ASX: BCI) is focused on the exploration and development of
channel iron deposits within its Nullagine Project in the Pilbara. A major
exploration program commenced in April 2007 over the Bonnie Creek and Nullagine
River CIDs, and, in March 2008, BC Iron announced a Channel Iron Deposit
resource of 47.2Mt at 53.6% Fe (61.5% CaFe) at Nullagine, including a
high-grade DSO resource of 28.0Mt grading 57.4% Fe (65.1% CaFe). The Company is
conducting a Scoping Study on an initial 3Mtpa DSO operation at the Bonnie
Creek CID Project.
Brockman Resources - www.brockmanresources.com.au
Brockman Resources Limited (formerly Yilgarn Mining Limited) is focused
on the exploration and development of its 100%-owned Marillana Project, located
100km north of Newman in the Pilbara, where the total Mineral Resource now
exceeds 1.1 billion tonnes of iron ore, and the Company is aggressively
targeting iron ore production by 2009. Brockman has recently completed a Scoping
Study on a proposed 10Mtpa iron ore project and is conducting a Feasibility
Study based on its expanded resource base which is due for completion in early
2009.
FerrAus Limited - www.ferraus.com
FerrAus is an emerging developer of iron ore and other ferrous raw
materials. Its wholly owned, strategic foothold in the under-explored, highly
prospective new iron ore sub-province in the East Pilbara
region encompasses over 560km2 with a potential strike length of
30-40km. The priority project is Roberston
Range where continuous
drilling and evaluation campaigns since late 2005 have yielded a significant
resource with the expectation of continued expansion as a result of further
planned drilling programmes.
READ CORPORATE
Public Relations
Corporate Communications
T: (+61-8) 9388-1474 | F: (+61-8)
9388-1472 | E: info@readcorporate.com.au | Web: www.readcorporate.com.au
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