All Aboard, and dont forget about PDY still under the radar.location location.
OAKAJEE Port and Rail chief executive Chris Eves says the failed Rio-Chinalco deal was the best thing that could have happened to his $4 billion project.
Speaking from Geraldton during a tour of the Oakajee site, Mr Eves said the failed Chinalco deal was "nothing but positive'' for the Mid-West iron ore region, making it more attractive to Asian buyers.
"I think there will be renewed and extended interest in the Mid-West as a result of the (failed) Rio-Chinalco deal,'' he said.
"If you're a steel mill in China and you had Rio Tinto competing against BHP _ and now they're in a joint venture _ the next logical place to look that has already made significant billions of dollars of investments in acquiring stakes in mines such as An Steel in Gindalbie and Sinosteel in Midwest (Corp), is to look at the Mid-West region.
"What has been three international suppliers of ore has overnight become two. What that means if you're a purchaser of ore is you need to start to diversify those from whom you can purchase ore to ensure price competitiveness. We are here and open for business.''
Mr Eves, who will head to China next month with WA Premier Colin Barnett to discuss funding for the project, said OPR had already had discussions with three Chinese groups.
If all goes to plan, Oakajee will open in 2014 and start to rival the Pilbara for iron ore exports.
But right now the site remains a strip of coastline 20km north of Geraldton that resembles any other farmland.
Aside from some landscaping done by the now-defunct Kingstream Steel, there are no sealed roads. A four-wheel-drive is a must to get to the coast to see the proposed site where the 300,000-tonne, 300m-long cape class vessels would dock, before being loaded with iron ore destined for Asian steel mills.
Construction of the 2km breakwall and wharf will be a feat in itself in 20m-deep water. The task lies with OPR, a joint venture between Mid-West miner Murchison Metals and Japanese firm Mitsubishi Group, which won the Oakajee tender over a China-backed joint venture, including rival Sinosteel Midwest Corp.
Geraldton Iron Ore chief executive Rob Jefferies, whose alliance represents seven of the eight major iron ore players in the region, has brushed aside any rivalries between the miners as their tenements remain mostly undeveloped, waiting for Oakajee to be completed.
"Everything is connected _ if something impacts on the key mines it's going to impact on Oakajee,'' he said.
Unlike the Pilbara, which is essentially controlled by giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, co-operation and open access will be at the heart of Oakajee.
OPR's plans include an open-access 550km railway, a common- user port and adjacent industrial area. Miners would pay OPR to use the infrastructure and need the new supply chain to be economically viable because of Geraldton Port's capacity and shipping limitations.
Geraldton Port's annual capacity is about 10-15 million tonnes a year compared with Oakajee's initial 35 million tonnes, which could more than double.
Geraldton-Greenough Shire chief executive Tony Brun said the Oakajee project would create 7000 jobs by 2015.
"I think the community is really strongly supportive of it, the opportunities are immense,'' he said.
