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After missing so many deadlines and going billions over budget, the first line of Citic Pacific’s massive Sino Iron project in Australia has finally gone into production.
Platts reports initial production of 4 million tonnes could be followed by five more lines for a total production of 24 million tonnes per year from the Pilbara magnetite resource of 2 billion tonnes.
Sino Iron, which is one of the biggest foreign investments ever made by a Chinese firm, is almost four years behind schedule thanks to operational and technical difficulties.
The mine has already cost Hong Kong-listed Citic $8 billion to develop and the final bill could reach $10 billion.
Back in 2006 when the project first came off the drawing board, it was forecast by its high-profile backers, which includes the China Development Bank, to cost under $2 billion.
Sino Iron, one of a number of overseas Chinese iron ore ventures, was designed to wrest some of the pricing power away from BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Vale which control some 60% of the 1.1 billion seaborne iron ore trade.
The spot price of 62% iron ore imported into the port city Tianjin in northern China on Monday was $131.40 a tonne.
The price of the commodity has slid more than 9% since the start of the year, but has held up relatively well against predictions of decline as global supply ramps up.
4 Comments
Engineer
I was one of the senior engineers who has worked on this project, now there are only young Chinese engineers, you say 8 billian and rising, who has fed you that guff, its 10 billian and rising and its due very poor design (they had never seen a P&ID before!!) to non-compliance of chinese supplied equipment to Australian Standards and shocking workmanship with no regard to safety of Australian Standards, the engineers never saw 1 calculation fro the designers NETC as they do not do them, the mines inspectors have failed lots but the Chinese are ept at hiding lots. All the Chinese are on 457 visa’s, a lot who are in middle management can hardly speak English (a violation of the WA mines act) with all meeting in Mandarin where shonky deals have been made between the major Chinese suppliers, what does this tell you about this project, its the laughing stock of the Pilbara.
Miner in Mauritania
300% over budget……..in the oil industry when the material market went berserk few years back they never exceeded 40% overrun from award to completion. It is quite an historical achievement. Four years behind schedule in Australia, I wonder what it would be if they had to set up a mine somewhere in Africa.
Damian Peachey
Pity the journo can’t get a photo of the mining equipment actually at Citic Pacific, they’ve shown a Russian made shovel and a Belaz truck. Not even close to what is running at CP.
paulo
The Citic Breakwater conveyor that transport the final concentrate to the Barge Loader has not even got a Goverment Approved Belt Weigher (NETC ordered the cheapest belr weigher from Schenck China!!) nor can this conveyor in its set up meet the Federal Goverment Royaltity calculation requirements, wonder how the Goverment react if it finds out, also more worrying for the Chinese Management should be if Clive Palmer gets wind of this!!