vixs posted link to this ..QR, Atlas join forces to open Pilbara...

vixs posted link to this ..

QR, Atlas join forces to open Pilbara rail access

Peter Ker April 26, 2012

THE long-held dream for an open-access railway in the Pilbara is a step closer, with QR National and Atlas Iron believed to be working together on a feasibility study for a landmark piece of infrastructure.

Confirmation of the partnership is expected in the coming days, in a development that could affect landlocked miners in the Pilbara region.

Infrastructure, and particularly the access to ports, is a valuable commodity in the Pilbara, which ranks as the world's most important iron ore province.

BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals, the companies with their own railways to Pilbara ports, have jealously guarded access to their infrastructure, with only Fortescue offering limited access at a very high price.

Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting is also building its own railway to connect its Roy Hill mine to Port Hedland.

Atlas and QR National are expected to spend the rest of the year working on the feasibility study, which has an initial aim of being able to carry iron ore to the port by 2015