Thanks Sabine. I think that there's definitely an interest to...

Thanks Sabine. I think that there's definitely an interest to develop the BCK tenements but so much depends on the berth and tonnage allocation at Pt Hedland. Chris Ellison refers to the initial intent of South West Creek development and it being for junior miners such as Min Resources and BCK, but I'm not sure that original intent is still part of the government's thinking. I thought I'd post the announcement that BCK released in January 2017 about reaching an agreement with the Port Authority for port access. It goes on to talk about mine development and targeting a start date in 2018 (still waiting). I wonder what became of this agreement?

Brockman has secured key port access for Project Maverick, the first stage of development of its world-class Marillana iron ore resource in Western Australia’s Pilbara.

Pilbara Port Authority has signed a Multi-Users Agreement and a stockyard land lease agreement with Brockman for the use of facilities at Utah Point Bulk Handling Facility.

Brockman Mining Limited (“Brockman” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce that it has secured port access for Project Maverick for its initial mining operation at the Company’s 100% owned Marillana iron ore deposit. The product is to be trucked on the road train to Utah Point at Port Hedland for further loading onto ocean-going vessels.Brockman has entered into a Multi-Users Agreement (“MUA”) with the Pilbara Port Authority (“PPA”) and a stockyard land lease (“Lease”) for the use of facilities at Utah Point Bulk Handling Facility (“Utah Point”) which will facilitate shipment of Project Maverick product through Utah Point.The MUA and Lease are subject to a number of conditions. These conditions (among others) are related to Brockman securing funding for Project Maverick and confirming its intention to commence with the PPA within specified dates.Brockman continues to make solid progress towards the development of Project Maverick. In addition to securing port access, the Company is in the final stages of negotiations for its road haulage arrangements and is in the final phase of selecting preferred mine site contractors. Brockman is targeting Q1 calendar year 2017 for the commencement of construction and Q1 calendar year 2018 for commissioning.* For identification purpose only—1—Business Development Director of Brockman, Mr Hendrianto Tee commented:“Gaining port access is a very significant and important step in the development of Project Maverick as the cornerstone for a larger scale operation at Marillana. It provides a key element of infrastructure certainty and a strong platform from which to advance other project milestones. Brockman appreciates the steadfast cooperation from the PPA in progressing and finalising these significant agreements.
”ABOUT PROJECT MAVERICKProject Maverick represents the first stage of Brockman’s commercial development strategy for its world-class Marillana iron ore deposit. Marillana is located approximately 100km northwest of the township of Newman and approximately 270km from Port Hedland (Utah Point).Project Maverick relates to a very small portion of the total mineralisation at Marillana. Brockman is targeting Q2 calendar year 2017 for commencement of construction, with commissioning in Q1 calendar year 2018. The pit design involves the mining of approximately 83.8Mt of ore and 27.8Mt waste over a 13-year period. The mined ore will be beneficiated to produce 35.7Mt of final product with an ultimate production capacity of 2.5-3.0Mtpa.This initial development phase will establish Brockman as a producer and introduce its high-grade product (61.5% Fe) to the seaborne iron ore market paving the way for a larger scale Marillana operation of up to 20Mtpa.

Given the political situation between China and Australia, and China's moves to lower iron ore prices and ore imports from Australia, I don't know if over capacity is still going to be an issue for Pt Hedland down the track.

A couple of decades ago analysts were predicting that iron ore demand from China was going to be immense and prolonged. On that basis I bought into Brockman, or Yilgarn Mining as it was known then.Little did I expect a decade and a half later I'm still waiting for the first ore shipments. I keep holding BCK as it's free carried for me and was financially lucrative, but it could have been so much more - and could still be.

Lithium is the next big mining thing, so it will now be my primary focus. I've found a small cap lithium explorer in the Pilbara whose market cap and resource potential is incredibly similar to Brockman in their early stages back in 2006 when I first invested, so hopefully will be just as lucrative for me. The only thing I hope for is that it doesn't take that mining company 20 years to bring any mining operation on stream as I think I'll be dead by then!