Mitsubishi Corp. and Murchison Metals Ltd. were given an extra nine months to decide whether to build a A$4.3 billion ($4.3 billion) iron ore rail and port development in Western Australia, Bloomberg reports.
The state government extended the deadline to Dec. 31 from March 31, it said today in an e-mailed statement. Construction is now expected to start in the first quarter of 2012 and port operations are expected to commence in 2015, it said.
“There will be no further extension to the deadline unless there are exceptional circumstances,” Premier Colin Barnett said in the statement. “If major hurdles are identified and the state government considers the project to be at risk, the proponents and the government will jointly address these issues, including restructuring the joint venture to bring in new partners.”
Oakajee Port & Rail Pty, jointly owned by Mitsubishi and Perth-based Murchison, on Nov. 4 delayed the start of the project by as many as six months. The terminal project near Geraldton, 430 kilometers (267 miles) north of the Western Australia capital, Perth, should have the capacity to export 45 million metric tons of iron ore a year.
Mitsubishi, Japan’s largest trading company by market value, and Murchison needed to raise about A$3 billion to fund construction, Oakajee Port & Rail said in March 2009. The companies are also partners in Crosslands Resources Ltd., which is developing the Jack Hills project and intends to use Oakajee’s transport infrastructure.
Government funding, split between the state and federal branches, will total A$678 million.
Oakajee Port in August signed initial agreements with potential customers of the project including Karara Mining Ltd., a venture between Gindalbie Metals Ltd. and China’s Anshan Iron & Steel Group, Sinosteel Midwest Corp. and Crosslands Resources.
The state government extended the deadline to Dec. 31 from March 31, it said today in an e-mailed statement. Construction is now expected to start in the first quarter of 2012 and port operations are expected to commence in 2015, it said.
“There will be no further extension to the deadline unless there are exceptional circumstances,” Premier Colin Barnett said in the statement. “If major hurdles are identified and the state government considers the project to be at risk, the proponents and the government will jointly address these issues, including restructuring the joint venture to bring in new partners.”
Oakajee Port & Rail Pty, jointly owned by Mitsubishi and Perth-based Murchison, on Nov. 4 delayed the start of the project by as many as six months. The terminal project near Geraldton, 430 kilometers (267 miles) north of the Western Australia capital, Perth, should have the capacity to export 45 million metric tons of iron ore a year.
Mitsubishi, Japan’s largest trading company by market value, and Murchison needed to raise about A$3 billion to fund construction, Oakajee Port & Rail said in March 2009. The companies are also partners in Crosslands Resources Ltd., which is developing the Jack Hills project and intends to use Oakajee’s transport infrastructure.
Government funding, split between the state and federal branches, will total A$678 million.
Oakajee Port in August signed initial agreements with potential customers of the project including Karara Mining Ltd., a venture between Gindalbie Metals Ltd. and China’s Anshan Iron & Steel Group, Sinosteel Midwest Corp. and Crosslands Resources.