mitsubishi seeks oakajee partners from asia

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JAPANESE minerals and industrial giant Mitsubishi will talk to investors in South Korea, India and Japan -- as well as potential Chinese backers -- in its quest to find a partner to develop the Oakajee port and rail project and the Jack Hills iron ore mine.

As reported in The Australian last month, South Korean steelmaker Posco is among the firms considering taking a stake in the project, which holds the key to unlocking WA's Mid-West magnetite mining region.

Japan's Nikkei Shinbun reported that Mitsubishi would spend up to 18 months on its search for a suitable partner to share the combined development costs of about $10 billion.

This would mean that production from Jack Hills, which was initially expected to begin in 2015, was likely to be delayed to 2016 at the earliest.

Mitsubishi, which has always had a 50 per cent stake in Oakajee and Jack Hills, ended months of damaging uncertainty last month when it bought out ailing miner Murchison Metals' interests in the two projects for $325 million.

There has been persistent speculation that the project would become the first Sino-Japanese mining venture in Australia as Chinese firms own stakes in some of the mines dependent on the port, including Gindalbie Metals' Karara project and the Sinosteel Midwest Weld Range project.

However, Posco already owns 14 per cent of Murchison Metals and has struck offtake agreements to take some of the output of Jack Hills. The steelmaker is also prepared to co-operate with Mitsubishi on the project.

Reuters recently quoted a Posco source saying the steelmaker was considering buying a direct stake in the two ventures from Mitsubishi. "We will consider various options. We still have time and we will talk with Mitsubishi," the source said.

Development on the venture co-funded by the WA and federal governments to the tune of $700m had stalled amid cost blowouts and Murchison's inability to meet its share of the capital costs. The blowouts were driven in part by soaring labour and materials costs in Australia's resources sector.

Mitsubishi, which has vast interests in Australia ranging from the Queensland coalfields to the WA's North West Shelf, effectively stepped in to buy out its junior partner to prevent the project collapsing completely.

But despite Mitsubishi's size, it does not want to hold the projects on its own and says it will search for a "suitably capitalised partner".

Most of the ore from the Mid-West will be exported to South Korea or China.