And Sino has apparently got approval to acquire an additional 4...

And Sino has apparently got approval to acquire an additional 4 billion tonnes of ore above their current 2 billion.I just had a look at their website - those guys don't stuff around - they will be shipping magnetite by the end of this year. They have their own port (Cape Preston) and power station already.

If you look at their site map you'll see Maitland is closer to their Port than their own mine.