2 September 2014
Paul Garvey
The Australian
In a statement posted to the Roy Hill website yesterday, Mrs Rinehart flagged her expectation that the ambitious development would beat its construction deadline.
“Roy Hill’s staff morale is high, and the hardworking team hope to be able to bring the first shipment due September 2015, ahead of time”, Mrs Rinehart said.
Once complete, the mine will produce 55 million tonnes a year of iron ore.
“This is a project that will employ thousands of Australians for decades and earn much needed export revenue for Australia,” Mrs Rinehart said.
“Roy Hill is currently the largest single mainland construction project in Australia.”
The Australian mining industry has been beset by cost overruns and delays in recent years as numerous developments competed for skills and equipment. But Roy Hill faces comparatively less competition, with most miners having wrapped up their expansion plans and instead focusing on cost-cutting.
Mrs Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting owns a 70 per cent interest in Roy Hill. Posco, Marubeni, STX Corp and China Steel hold the remainder.
The construction of Roy Hill comes amid a backdrop of cooling iron ore prices, which have fallen by more than 30 per cent so far this year.
The fall has been blamed on an influx of new iron ore production from heavyweights Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group, as well as a softening in China’s economic growth rate.
Roy Hill is expected to rank among the lower cost iron ore mines, offering it comparative insulation from the falling price.
Courtesy of The Australian