I sent an email to STB regarding available infrastructure for production, got a reply from Kerry today. Didn't ask for permission to post here but here is a paraphrase of what she wrote.
-Engineering Scoping Study is due to be complete in late August. -3 port options, Massawa 170km, Mersa Fatma 70km, new port -New port is cheap as it aims for 90000T maxed size vessel. Enough for 10mtpa production. -Existing rail is useless but it provides a clear path to coast, flat terrain and uninhabited. (This is good, I didn't expect the rail be anymore useful than providing a clear path). -Currently assessing slurry pipe and rail/road transportation depending on metallurgical test work and a number of other factors.
Slurry pipe? Never heard of it until today, did some research and came up with some amazing figures. That's most of the CAPEX problem solved! Pity ELM needs 1.7B CAPEX for a sad 1.8tpa production.
Construction of Aurox Resources? Balla Balla mine pipeline, located in northern Western Australia costs $200mil for 110km long. Operating cost only $1/T!
Phosphate slurry pipeline routes explored in Gulf country 266 km long for $226 million. Operating cost only $3.69/t!
