MK wants to take TTY where CSM wouldnt allow him.MK had big...

MK wants to take TTY where CSM wouldnt allow him.MK had big plans for CSM but they didnt have his vision so I believe that TTY is going to be a force in the near future.

A FEW REMINDERS

Kiernan plans a Noble future to develop from Territory Iron | Print |
The West Australian
26 March 2007
It has taken only a month for Perth mining baron Michael Kiernan, backed by big Hong Kong commodities trader Noble Group, to stamp his authority on fledgling Northern Territory iron ore producer Territory Iron.



Mr Kiernan last week became chairman of Territory Iron just a month after agreeing to pump $30 million into the junior miner through Crawley Investments, a special investment vehicle owned 70-30 by Noble and Mr Kiernan.

Speaking after his first board meeting at Territory Iron, Mr Kiernan said Crawley had big plans for Territory Iron that extended well beyond its modest Frances Creek mine now being built near Pine Creek.

Frances Creek is slated to produce 1.5 million tonnes of high-grade hematite a year once mining starts in May, from total reserves of just 4.8 million tonnes.

But Mr Kiernan said that would change because he was determined to "belt the hell out of exploration" at Frances Creek.

"They currently have an exploration budget of $2.5 million and I told them to come back and tell me what they could do with $5 or $6 million," he said.

Given Territory Iron's reserves come from less than a dozen of 55 known iron ore deposits on its leases, he said there was no reason that the company could not progressively double its reserves and then its production in the short to medium term.

But more significantly, he said Noble was determined to use Territory to build a substantial and aggressive player in the junior Australian iron ore sector.

In particular, he said Noble had identified a move into WA's emerging magnetite sector as a key avenue for future growth.

"They feel that magnetite does have a strong future ... and certainly it is Noble's desire to use Territory Iron as a vehicle to significantly expand into that area," he said. "Frances Creek may be a little operation, but little acorns grow into big oak trees."

Given Noble last year sought to buy a $500 million cornerstone stake in Fortescue Metals Group and in 2005 was gazumped by Rio Tinto for a $1 billion stake in Gina Rinehart's Hope Downs iron ore project, interesting times loom for Territory Iron shareholders.