Cliffs Announces Asia Pacific Iron Ore Infrastructure Upgrades
09/22/2010 - Cliffs Natural Resources Inc.’s Board of Directors has approved a capital project at its Koolyanobbing Complex in Western Australia that is expected to allow the Complex to produce about 11 million tonnes annually.
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc.’s Board of Directors has approved a capital project at its Koolyanobbing Complex in Western Australia. The company expects the project, which requires approximately $320 million Australian dollars of incremental capital investment, to allow the Koolyanobbing Complex to produce about 11 million tonnes annually.
Cliffs indicated that capital for this project will be spent over the next two years, with the bulk of the spending occurring in 2011. The improvements are expected to consist of enhancements to the existing rail infrastructure, an increase in rolling stock, and upgrades to various other existing operational constraints. These improvements are scheduled to be fully implemented in the second half of 2012.
Cliffs says that recently acquired mineral tenements located near its existing Asia Pacific Iron Ore deposits will enable the company to continue potentially increasing the current resource base.
“We are enthusiastic about the expected organic growth these improvements will generate for our Asia Pacific Iron Ore operations,” said Duncan Price, Cliffs’ Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Asia Pacific Iron Ore. “We acknowledge the support of, and effort by, the Western Australian Government in overcoming significant policy uncertainties, which had delayed key permits.”
Cliffs Natural Resources, an international mining and natural resources company, is the largest producer of iron ore pellets in North America, a major supplier of direct-shipping lump and fines iron ore out of Australia, and a significant producer of metallurgical coal. The North American business unit comprises six iron ore mines owned or managed in Michigan, Minnesota, and Canada and two coking coal mining complexes located in West Virginia and Alabama. The Asia Pacific business unit comprises two iron ore mining complexes in Western Australia and a 45% economic interest in a coking and thermal coal mine in Queensland, Australia. The Latin American business unit includes a 30% interest in the Amapá Project, an iron ore project in the state of Amapá in Brazil.
