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Iron Ore Project May Attract Steel Mill, Western Australia Says

By Jason Scott

May 12 (Bloomberg) -- Western Australia, where a third of the world’s traded iron ore is mined, said overseas investors have asked about building steel mills at Oakajee, an iron ore port and rail project in the state’s mid-west.

“The state has received a number of inquiries from foreign investors who have expressed an interest in establishing steel- making operations at Oakajee,” Deidre Willmott, the state government’s cabinet secretary, told a meeting of business and government officials in Perth today. She didn’t specify who the inquiries had come from.

Oakajee Port & Rail Pty, a joint venture between Murchison Metals Ltd. and Mitsubishi Corp., in March signed a A$4 billion ($3 billion) agreement with Western Australia to build the project. The deep-water port, 450 kilometers (280 miles) north of Perth, may make its first ore exports from 2013 with construction scheduled to start from 2010.

“This project is of huge significance to Western Australia,” Willmott said. “It is also of great importance to our trading partners in China, Japan and Korea, including those who have invested in the region and those who may wish to purchase the resources.”

The port, with a capacity to ship 35 million metric tons of iron ore annually, will boost exports with potential users including Mount Gibson Iron Ltd., Atlas Iron Ltd., Gindalbie Metals Ltd., Golden West Resources Ltd. and Asia Iron Holdings Ltd.