RimI did not state I knew anything about CSM I merely questioned...

Rim

I did not state I knew anything about CSM I merely questioned your involvement in the matter. From the gist of your comment you are saying because you were the main instigator of that action that somehow that translates to street creds on the iron-ore industry.

Best you not make unconsidered statements.

You still haven't provided any substance just a lot of hot air. The fact this piece was written by a so called business journalist (keyword journalist) says enough.

Sure I agree on the surface hematite looks a better proposition but I'm not sure we have the full story, so just to help you out I've added some of the advantages and disadvantages of both below. It's amazing what a few minutes of research can discover.

I think the key to the magnetite story will be the economies of scale the mine can achieve. Sure it may have to invest 1b but the quality and scale of the mine may justify it.

Investing in anything is a risk and in the end with respect to ARH it's not the stuff in the ground that matters it's the people running the show that will be the key to the eventual success or demise of this venture

BW

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The typical grade of iron at which a magnetite-bearing banded iron formation becomes economic is roughly 25% Fe, which can generally yield a 33% to 40% recovery of magnetite by weight, to produce a concentrate grading in excess of 64% Fe by weight. The typical magnetite iron ore concentrate has less than 0.1% phosphorus, 3-7% silica and less than 3% aluminium.

The grain size of the magnetite and its degree of comingling with the silica groundmass determine the grind size to which the rock must be comminuted to enable efficient magnetic separation to provide a high purity magnetite concentrate. This determines the energy inputs required to run a milling operation. Generally most magnetite BIF deposits must be ground to between 32 and 45 micrometres in order to provide a low-silica magnetite concentrate. Magnetite concentrate grades are generally in excess of 63% Fe by weight and usually are low phosphorus, low aluminium, low titanium and low silica and demand a premium price.

Currently magnetite iron ore is mined in Minnesota and Michigan in the U.S., and Eastern Canada mine taconite. Magnetite bearing BIF is currently mined extensively in Brazil, which exports significant quantities to Asia, and there is a nascent and large magnetite iron ore industry in Australia.
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Hematite iron ore deposits are currently exploited on all continents, with the largest intensity of exploitation in South America, Australia and Asia. Most large hematite iron ore deposits are sourced from metasomatically altered banded iron formations and rarely igneous accumulations.

Hematite iron is typically rarer than magnetite bearing BIF or other rocks which form its main source or protolith rock, but it is considerably cheaper and easier to beneficiate the hematite ores and requires considerably less energy to crush and grind. Hematite ores however can contain significantly higher concentrations of penalty elements, typically being higher in phosphorus, water content (especially pisolite sedimentary accumulations) and aluminium (clays within pisolites).

In Australia iron ore is won from three main sources: pisolite "channel iron deposit" ore derived by mechanical erosion of primary banded-iron formations and accumulated in alluvial channels such as at Pannawonica, Western Australia; and the dominant metasomatically-altered banded iron formation related ores such as at Newman, the Chichester Range, the Hamersley Range and Koolyanobbing, Western Australia. Other types of ore are coming to the fore recently, such as oxidised ferruginous hardcaps, for instance laterite iron ore deposits near Lake Argyle in Western Australia.