Gondwana's Corunna downs iron-ore tenement is to the south east...

Gondwana's Corunna downs iron-ore tenement is to the south east of the Fortescue "Glacier Valley" and Atlas's "Abydos" iron-ore projects. The announcement by AGO and FMG highlights one of the options for Gondwana with Corunna. I'd expect GDA's iron-ore which is hematite at upper levels and magnetite at lower levels would not re subject to the similar jv as hematite is cheaper to extract as Direct Shipping Ore as opposed to the Atlas magnetite. Either way it's a good agreement for AGO and FMG and should be watched closely for possible comparisons for Gondwana's project.
I have posted on the Atlas Abydos project and Fortescue's Glacier Valley project and I suspect that Atlas has its hands full with the Pardoo project and see the jv as an economical way to get an income stream without the cash outlays by involving Fortescue.
The announcement is only a one page brief and there is much more I'd like to find out about the jv as news is released progressively on the project.
I expect GDA will we watching developments closely.


The news tonight from the asx.....

"6thAugust 2008
ABYDOS MAGNETITE JOINT VENTURE WITH FMG
Atlas Iron Limited [ASX Code: AGO] is pleased to announce that it has today signed a Joint Venture Heads
of Agreement with Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX Code: FMG) for a joint venture over ELA45/2310, a
tenement over which Atlas owns the iron ore rights. The primary focus of the joint venture is to define and
develop extensions to the FMG Glacial Valley magnetite deposit. Atlas does not consider this tenement as
prospective for direct shipping grade iron ore.
The material terms of the joint venture heads of agreement are as follows:
1. FMG may earn a 60% joint venture interest in the Iron Ore Rights by delineating Inferred Resources of
iron ore within the Tenement.
2. FMG may earn a further 15% joint venture interest in the Iron Ore Rights by completing a pre-feasibility
study on the mining of iron ore within the Tenement.
3. FMG may earn a further 12.5% joint venture interest in the Iron Ore Rights by completing a definitive
feasibility study on the mining of iron ore within the Tenement.
Background
Atlas is on track to commence mining in October 2008 at its Pardoo DSO Project and to commence DSO
exports from Port Hedland in the 4th Quarter of 2008. Together with additional DSO export tonnages from
Abydos, Atlas is targeting exports of 6 million DSO tonnes per annum by 2010 and 12 million DSO tonnes
per annum by 2012 through Port Hedland."