- Macarthur Minerals (MIO) signs a term sheet with rail haulage provider Pacific National for shipment of its iron ore from Kalgoorlie to Esperance
- Notably, this agreement will support a potential direct shipment export pathway
- The potential deal will see 400,000 tonnes per year of iron ore from the Lake Giles Project transported to the port in Esperance
- On the market today, Macarthur is up 2.08 per cent and is trading at 49 cents per share
Macarthur Minerals (MIO) has entered a term sheet with rail haulage provider Pacific National.
The deal covers the transportation of 400,000 tonnes per annum of iron ore between Kalgoorlie and Esperance for up to four years.
The iron ore is from MIO’s Lake Giles Project and is being transported for export out of Esperance.
Notably, this agreement will support a potential direct shipment ore (DSO) export pathway.
The potential deal will provide an innovative solution for access to above and below rail haulage capacity for Macarthur by allowing the company to leverage off existing rail paths between Kalgoorlie and Esperance. This places Macarthur in a unique position to access rail transport in the current market.
CEO and Managing Director of Pacific National Paul Scurrah is pleased to have progressed discussions with Macarthur.
“The proposed service will utilise available capacity on our existing services operating between Esperance and Kalgoorlie and presents an opportunity to support a greenfield mining operation and create capacity on the network without requiring additional paths,” he said.
“We look forward to supporting Macarthur Minerals in this initial phase of the Lake Giles project and building a sustainable partnership for the future.”
Macarthur Minerals CEO Andrew Burton said securing export pathways for bulk iron ore in Western Australia is challenging, even though the iron ore market is strong.
“Despite these challenges, Macarthur has worked hard to achieve an innovative transport solution in collaboration with the team at Pacific National – placing us in a unique position to access the rail network to Esperance,” Mr Burton said.
“The company intends to continue to target commencement of commercial DSO mining operations at Ularring, and this deal with Pacific National will help lay the foundation for Macarthur’s ambitions to commence iron ore exports at the earliest available opportunity.”
On the market today, Macarthur is up 2.08 per cent and is trading at 49 cents per share at 12:03 pm AEST.