Sunday, April 11, 2010

Queensland Rail To Transport Karara Iron Ore

Ten Year Deal To Freight Ore To Geraldton


Queensland Rail is to transport iron ore from Western Australian miner Gindalbie Metals's $1.8 billion Karara project to Geraldton port.

The rail operator, which moved into Western Australia in 2006, will announce on Monday that it has signed a heads of agreement with Gindalbie for a 10-year deal for 8 million tonnes of concentrate and 3 million tonnes a year of direct shipping ore with an option to take the whole of the 30 million tonnes a year that Gindalbie expects to produce at Karara.

The Karara project is a joint venture between Gindalbie and the Chinese steelmakers Ansteel. The first iron ore is expected to be produced next year.

"This is potentially one of the largest individual long-term contracts which will be awarded for the Karara Project, with a value of several hundreds of million dollars over the initial 10-year period," Gindalbie managing director Garret Dixon said.

Queensland Rail is expected to be privatised later this year.


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