The price is for ore - not the iron content of the ore.The price...

The price is for ore - not the iron content of the ore.

The price of ore is like the price of oil - different prices for different grades and qualities.

The expected price of $US100/t applies to high quality direct shipping hematite which is about 62-65% Fe, or typically about 63% like most of what BHP and RIO ship.

For 58% they will get a little less than a direct ratio of 58%/63% because there is more waste to get rid of. If the beneficate the ore to 63% Fe obviously they get full prices minus reductions for impurities (eg titanium) and add a bonus for good impurities (eg Vanadium).

They will likely get 80-90% of BHP price for a contract (having less weight to throw around) - or they sell on the spot market maybe for up to $150/t. They will need to much of production on contract to obtain bank finance.

The ore body, if it were at the port waiting to ship, would be worth about $AU4-5B, in ground obviously much less.

5MT/yr if current prices persist will be worth about $400m/yr on contract minus about $250m costs or $150m profit before paying interest on borrowings