QR National has put its foot on a preferred route for a fourth iron ore railway line into Port Hedland in a move that could throw a lifeline to juniors sitting on billions of dollars of otherwise stranded deposits.
The corridor mapped out by QR is understood to pass close to Atlas Iron's Mt Webber, McPhee Creek and southern Pilbara deposits, paving the way for the miner to underpin a business case for the railway.
It would also hand Atlas what it needs to meet its production target of 46 million tonnes a year by 2017.
W _estBusiness _ understands QR has submitted a so-called file notation area with the Department of Mines and Petroleum over a tranche of land in the Pilbara, essentially an expression of interest that is a crucial step towards building what would be the region's first genuine third party railway. ................
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