Thanks Phillip - very interesting information about the FMG rail...

Thanks Phillip - very interesting information about the FMG rail option.

Regarding capacity, the maximum capacity of the current rail line is 55mtpa with FMG currently loading around 35mtpa, with expansion plans expected to increase this to 55mtpa by 2011. This will obviously use up all of the current capacity before BRM begins production.

The article also states that FMGs Rail Manager has said that with duplication and additional sidings the capacity can be increased to 200mtpa. This is similar to another site I have found that states that stage 1 rail expansion will take capacity to 100mtpa (probably with sidings) and stage 2 to 200mtpa (obviously with duplication) - refer http://au.finance.yahoo.com/q/apr?s=FMG.AX

So, for FMG to provide any haulage for BRM will require stage 1 expansion and maybe stage 2 expansion, depending on the rate of further expansion by FMG itself. If FMG eventually gets its Solomon project up to the proposed 160mtpa, they will require all of the 200mtpa rail capacity just for themselves (long-term) and will need a stage 3 rail expansion in order to provide for other miners.

The good news is that with TPI having been setup as a separate infrastructure business, and with FMG now putting out initial costings for third party haulage, it seems that they are seriously setting themselves up to provide such haulage, as opposed to BHP and RIO who are recalcitrant on this issue.

This is definitely good news for BRM and I also feel that BRM would be far better placed dealing with FMG (and possibly also Hancock) than wasting time with BHP.

Still, I expect that Wayne Richards and the BRM team are further advanced in resolving BRMs haulage solution than any of us know.