NEWS RELEASE16 June 2006ABN 46 008 942 809INDIAN MARKET OFFERS...

NEWS RELEASE
16 June 2006
ABN 46 008 942 809
INDIAN MARKET OFFERS HUGE POTENTIAL
Following a recent trip to India visiting some of the country’s premier iron ore mining houses, Australasian Resources Ltd’s (ASX: ARH) Managing Director, Mr Darren Hedley, has returned extremely enthusiastic about the outlook.
There has been a lot of coverage recently regarding India’s expansion plans which includes increased spending on roads, bridges, ports and infrastructure in general, however, Hedley believes the most exciting factor lies in the text of India’s National Steel Policy. “It states in black and white that India’s strategic objectives are to increase steel production from the current levels of 38Mtpa increasing to 110Mtpa over the next 13 -14 years, including a forecast for consumption increasing from 36Mt to 90Mt over the same period.”
This is clearly why Hedley sees huge opportunity for his company. “When you are close to finalising a deal over part of a world class asset, you receive real interest from groups wanting to lock in long term quality iron ore supplies” he said. “Ideally we would seek a Memorandum of Understanding in the near term with one of these parties then proceed to finalise detail documentation shortly thereafter.”
He was confident that we are witnessing the birth of a new major iron ore producing area in the Pilbara.
Any queries can be directed to Darren Hedley on +61 8 9322 2288.