cockatoo island synergies

Having had a look at Cockatoo a while back I have been thinking about the route to export for the DSO.....

Cockatoo has an environmental bond of which Cliffs are locked into, i.e. they rehabilitate the island when mining is completed there in 2011, this costs a lot of money.. In come PLV and agree to take over the bond, Cliffs walk away and PLV inherit the infrastructure and a commitment to rehab the island when mining on Irvine is completed.

Some synergies:

The power station will allow for the primary and tertiary crushing and screening of the DSO to be performed on Cockatoo, saving power and cost on Irvine.

Crushing and screening plant: self explanatory

Shiploader and associated conveyors: self explanatory

Accomodation already exists on Cockatoo, enough for an operations workforce and then some... Click to see pic here A quick ferry ride at shift change for the workers on Irvine...

Water and sewerage infrastructure: self explanatory

Roads and landing strip: self explanatory.

The only plant and infrastructure that will be needed would be a couple of ramps (cheap and easy to build) and some barges and associated mining equipment, drills loaders etc. All in all I would say that mining and export could start pretty much as soon as all approvals are given. The mining equipment can be leased to get cash flow going quickly.

Of course the resource needs to be proven up, of that I have no doubts, I reckon 30 to 50 million tonnes of over 62% Fe will be with us in the next 6 to 8 months.

Cheers ..