Hi Muzzarati,I believe when you say that Mitsubishi is going to...

Hi Muzzarati,

I believe when you say that Mitsubishi is going to mothball the project for the short to medium term in mining spectrum(defined by next 3-5 years).

What I do see is that if the Chinese are indeed desperate to develop the Midwest region then holding OPR would be of strategic importance.

On Barnett, I don't think he would have the guts to take away OPR from Mitsubishi since this could create a international political storm. I can see Barnett pushing MMX using the excuse that MMX has not met their economic obligation. With Mitsubishi I bet you that they will continue to sink in "minimal" costs and will even try to or something with the Chinese if they have to (I know the Chinese could use a foreign shell company registered in Singapore or Bermuda as a face front to avoid losing face).

If Barnett does take OPR away from Mitsubishi and giving it to whoever can commit to develop the Midwest then I will say "good on him for having the balls".

One other issue that people may forget is that production from Rio, BHP and CVRD are projected to almost double by 2015-2016. Its been a few years late on the expansion mainly due to infrastructure bottleneck development. Look at Rio Tino, they still have Rhodes Ridges and Shovalanna Haematite deposits (just naming two) that can add 50million metric tonnes before the Midwest region gets started. Iron Ore prices may have a healthy outlook in the next 3-4 years but if you use long term prices of say $60-70 then many projects become questionable especially those that require long development time and huge capital outlays.

What people don't understand is that Rio BHP and CVRD still have many Haematite deposits which may not be as good as their existing producing ones but still much better than Magnetite ones that can meet demand for the next several decades. Its always been the expansion part in infrastructure that is the issue.

MMX has been one of the primary stocks that has given me the option to retire (sold my first lot back on the days of the Midwest takeover announcement) so I do have a sentimental attachment to it (then I can say this for Midwest, Brockman, Lynas, Equinox and Extact Resources as well). Its never nice to see fellow Aussies lose their money but that is reality with investments ... there is the risk factor.