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Todays Australian:

HE has worked with global mining major BHP Billiton and classed Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest as a colleague, so it is not surprising Brockman Resources' boss Wayne Richards is hopeful he can steer his iron ore company to become a significant player.

Mr Richards started his mining career at Queensland Nickel and then took on the role of refinery manager at the Murrin Murrin nickel-cobalt project in 1997, where he worked with Twiggy.

But his interest in iron ore was cemented in his role at BHP Billiton where he was a senior executive involved in asset development.

"I saw an old company running and then a new entrepreneurial company and I took the lessons learned from that and went to BHP," he said.

His history with BHP and Mr Forrest -- who created Fortescue Metals Group -- gives him an advantage over his rivals, as a good relationship with the major Pilbara players is needed to access their infrastructure -- a must for any producer.

Brockman's Marillana project in the Pilbara contains 1.4 billion tonnes of iron ore resources and is located near BHP's railway line leading directly to Port Hedland.

Foster Stockbroking, which has taken a keen interest in the stock and placed a $3.20 price target on it -- Brockman closed at $1.22 on Friday -- thinks the infrastructure hurdles are more surmountable than the market is currently giving the company credit for.

"As such, we think Brockman is worth significantly more value than the about $60 million of enterprise value currently being ascribed to the company," Foster said in its note on the stock.

BHP and fellow mining giant Rio Tinto have a firm grip on the infrastructure and have argued against third-party access.

But in October Treasurer Wayne Swan declared BHP's and Rio's vast Pilbara rail network open to others after a push by Mr Forrest -- who has agreements with juniors to access his port and rails -- to use the infrastructure.

An appeal was lodged and a further ruling is not expected until the middle of next year.

"In our view, third-party access on the Pilbara railway lines is inevitable and despite the long process, is probably not as far off as the value ascribed to Brockman would appear to suggest," Foster said.

Consolidation among the small iron ore hopefuls is now the driving force in the sector and last month Warwick Resources, which is 20.88 per cent owned by Atlas Iron, purchased Hannans Reward's East Pilbara iron ore tenements for $5.25m. Following that announcement, iron ore junior FerrAus said it was backing consolidation in the sector.

"It's a bulk commodity, it's a big ore game and many of the juniors only have a small resource," Mr Richards said.

"So they need access to third-party infrastructure. You will get quantum by mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures or consolidation.

"Longer term, there could be four or five major players and you use the idea that one of those new consortium might have multiple mines adding up to 50 million tonnes, which is where you get your efficiencies.

"It will happen in time, as some companies disappear as they have small tenements or not enough momentum."

Since joining Brockman, which was previously Yilgarn Mining, in August 2007, Mr Richards has firmly set his sights on getting the junior into production and in January appointed UBS as its strategic corporate adviser.

The move was partly a defensive strategy, as the company sits with $103m in uncommitted cash reserves and an undeveloped iron ore mine project with 1.4 billion tonnes of iron ore resource.

"In the six months it (UBS) has done work with us that included working on a defence strategy to potential joint ventures partners, future funding and the timing of funding for the project to ensure the project flows smoothly over the next two to four years," Mr Richards said.

"Over the next two years we will be building the repertoire of agreements and arrangements and contacts with funds and potential partners, so the project can be funded in a timely manner."

The results of its pre-feasibility study, which was done on a 15 to 25 million tonne project, will be released later this month. The junior will then award a tender for the definitive feasibility study.

Brockman is also a founding member of the North West Iron Ore Alliance, which is completing a scoping study on the development of two inner harbour berths and associated ore handling facilities at Port Hedland.

"The long-term solution for us is to develop the mine, put the ore on BHP or TPI's rail line and then put it through the alliance multi-user berth system in Port Hedland," Mr Richards said.