Resource News
Centrex Metals iron ore berth cleared
By resourceINTEL · October 6, 2009 · 10:02 am · Leave a Comment
THE South Australian government has approved iron ore hopeful Centrex Metals’ $40 million iron ore berth on the Eyre Peninsula, which the junior miner hopes will kickstart its plan to become the state’s leading iron ore miner.
With the approval for a 1.6million-tonnes-a-year berth at Port Lincoln, Centrex says it will now be able to push ahead with its 100 per cent-owned Wilgerup hematite iron ore mine, which is expected to cost $45m to $50m, including port costs, in the next two months, leading to first exports in the first quarter of next year.
Managing director Gerard Anderson said Centrex would now focus on the final stages of design, including modifying existing infrastructure at Port Lincoln.
The South Australian government has limited port operations to 10 years, which is three years beyond Wilgerup’s current proposed life producing at 1.6 million tonnes a year.
Centrex shares yesterday rose 8c to 62c on the approval.
Beyond this small mine to provide a starting cashflow, Centrex’s ambitions rest with the Foreign Investment Review Board’s pending approval of a deal with China’s state-owned Wuhan Iron & Steel Company..
WISCO has agreed to spend $234m on a 60 per cent stake in a joint venture with Centrex that aims to produce more than 10 million tonnes of magnetite iron ore a year and a 12.9 per cent stake in Centrex itself…read more at The Australian
