Hi Onepot Savage River is the only producer of magnetite in Australia as far as I know. I have been told on good authority that most of the proposed magnetite projects around will never happen. It’s the long timeline and the capital costs that are the killer. I suppose time will tell and as the price of IO goes up they may become more viable. But don’t underestimate that it takes a lot of effort, time, Aboriginal heritage and environmental bullshit to start a mine let alone build a new transport corridor (railway/ slurry pipe), magnetite concentrator, pellet plant, port facilities, power station. I really rate current producers with good infrastructure.
As for my opinion on diminishing resources… Energy I don’t think we should worry: peak oil - definitely, peak oil sands / gas/ coal – no. We need some pressure on price so we don’t totally pollute the planet. As for metals you can always mine at lower grades… the market sorts it out (eventually). I have seen the Chinese mining the top 15cm of soil in Yunnan Province in China for about 10% Fe!
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