on the cusp of something big , page-13

Flinders cuts jobs, blasts FMG

Nick Sas, The West AustralianJuly 2, 2013, 5:38 am





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Iron ore hopeful Flinders Mines has sacked staff and restructured the mining plan at its Pilbara Iron Ore Project in a bid to make it more attractive in a "changing" iron ore market.

In a continuation of the rampant rationalisation across WA's mining sector, Flinders said yesterday nine staff had been made redundant as it set out to reduce its project and administrative expenditure.

Speaking to _WestBusiness _yesterday Flinders chairman Robert Kennedy also sunk the boot into Fortescue Metals Group, accusing its chief executive Nev Power of refusing to play fairly in the heated battle over Pilbara infrastructure. Flinders' 5 million tonne per annum Pilbara project is effectively hamstrung until it finds an infrastructure solution.

Mr Kennedy said Fortescue, which has publicly declared it is open to talking about sharing its rail line, was not meeting Flinders and other juniors halfway.

"I've seen Nev Power's comment that the juniors should be talking to them (Fortescue), well we are trying to, but that is proving very difficult," Mr Kennedy said.

"We certainly can't get any traction on a sensible basis, and at the moment we can't even get to first base (in the negotiations).

"We're in the position that Fortescue was in when it tried to get on BHP Billiton's rail line, only the shoe is on the other foot now for Fortescue. There's no transparency and openness."

Both Flinders and Brockman Mining are awaiting a response from the Economic Regulation Authority after submitting applications to use Fortescue's 280km line.

The Pilbara Infrastructure, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fortescue, submitted its costings for the line last month.

Giving an update on Flinders' Pilbara Iron Ore Project, Mr Kennedy said a new mine plan provided a more competitive strip ratio.

"We did the update basically to let our shareholders know that we're not just sitting here, we're actually doing things," he said. "With the job losses, well, we're trying to be as frugal as we can, but also progress the project."

Mr Kennedy said the new mine plan cut the capital expenditure price of the $1.1 billion project, although it did not disclose a figure.

Investors reacted positively to the news in a bear market yesterday, with Flinders shares jumping 0.3¢ to 3.2¢.
The company's shares traded at 8.4¢ at the start of the year.

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