Hi Sabine,Thanks for the link to that article that gives a bit...

Hi Sabine,

Thanks for the link to that article that gives a bit of background to the south west creek berths. Like you, I think it would be poor form for the WA government to renege on the original Nth West Iron Ore Alliance (NWIOA) deal to give them 2 berths at south west creek. I actually thought that when Hancock took over Atlas they received one of the berths, and that when Min Resources took over Brockman they were expecting the same arrangement where they would get access to South West Creek but were denied by the State Government.

This article suggests that neither Hancock or Min Resources (through their ownership/partnership of Atlas and Brockman) has access to the berths allocated to the NWIOA as the government retracted the offer. I don't know what the terms were for the NWIOA members for port development but it seems that the State's position came as a surprise to Min Resources and Hancock. By way of background, NWIOA members were Brockman, Atlas and Ferraus. In 2011 Atlas took over Ferraus, so effectively, the berths were then left for Atlas and Brockman. With Hancock taking over Atlas in 2018 and Min Resources taking 50% of BCK's tenements, it makes perfect sense for Hancock and Min Resources to be allocated the berths as it fits in with the original government intent. Indeed, the article states Since then MinRes and Hancock have been competing for the right to build the berths, which the state government still wants to service smaller companies with stranded assets in the Pilbara.

I don't know if there are any other juniors with stranded assets in the Pilbara but I would think that Brockman still meets the government's definition of a smaller company with stranded assets, thus should receive a berth.

I think this deal is a huge bonus for Min Resources. Originally for 50% of BCK's ore they were going to build a railway/build private road, supply train/ trucks, and 50% sharing the mining and port development costs. Under this arrangement, they don't need to build a railway or as long a road to get ore to port, and Hancock is also sharing the port development cost. Min Resources has significantly reduced up front costs, so well played Chris Ellison. Using Hancock railway and Hancock contributing to port development is a benefit to BCK too.