Oakajee iron ore project costs soar by a third to nearly $6bn
COSTS for the Oakajee iron ore export project being joint-managed by Murchison Metals and Mitsubishi have blown out by more than a third to $5.94 billion and the first ore will not be delivered till 2015, Murchison said today.
The troubled project, which has been plagued by cost and time overruns, would also reduce its initial capacity from 45 million tonnes to 42 million tonnes a year, Murchison said.
'Releasing a long-awaited feasibility study into the project, Murchison said the 50-50 Crosslands joint venture had still not signed off on the report, and expected a final investment decision in the first three months of 2012.
The Jack Hills iron ore project, also a joint venture between Murchison and Mitsubishi, would cost a further $3.7bn to develop.
Paul Kopejkta, the company's executive chairman, said he would step down to a non-executive director role and appoint Ken Scott-Mackenzie as a non-executive chairman in his place.'
