Don't know where you get the figure of 1.5 to 2 billion needed by AGO to fund rail. Maybe this will ease some concerns.
In April after the Joint Feasibility Study announced by QRN and AGO for rail, the estimate was a lot lower then that.
AGO is not looking at funding the whole rail option itself. It is likely to be some joint venture or access rights.
The QRN and AGO scenario could look similar to that reported in the West Australian which would see an AGO requirement of about $240 million.
see,
The West Australian in an article stated, "Under the arrangement envisaged by QR and Atlas, the latter would take a minority equity stake in the railway of no more than 25 per cent.
It is understood the favoured funding model would be a traditional mix of debt and equity. A vehicle to be established by QR and Atlas would source debt while Atlas would have to come up with its pro-rata share of the equity funding, as opposed to its share of the entire capital cost, in keeping with its low-capex company model.
For example, assuming a $4 billion price tag, a 70:30 debt to equity ratio and a 20 per cent stake for Atlas, the iron ore miner would need to fund 20 per cent of the $1.2 billion equity component, or $240 million."
