WA:Oakajee venture will be completed: Barnett

AAP General News (Australia)
12-28-2011
WA:Oakajee venture will be completed: Barnett

PERTH, Dec 28 AAP - The West Australian government says it will continue to work with
Oakajee Port and Rail despite the joint venture losing its exclusive rights over the iron
ore transport project.

Premier Colin Barnett has been an enthusiastic backer of the project to provide rail
lines and a port at Oakajee, just north of Geraldton, to ship out the iron ore reserves
of WA's Midwest region.

But the proposed $6 billion project hit trouble when joint-venture partner Murchison
Metals was unable to come up with the funds to continue.

Mr Barnett said on Wednesday that from January 1, Oakajee Port and Rail (OPR) would
no longer have exclusive rights over the project.

That was in line with a December 31 deadline for Murchison and its joint-venture partner
Mitsubishi to complete a strategic review aimed at restructuring the project's ownership.

Mitsubishi has signalled plans to purchase Murchison's interest in the project and
seek another partner.

"Oakajee will be built, Western Australia needs a deepwater port in the midwest to
unlock the region's potential," Mr Barnett said in a statement.

"The state government will continue to work with OPR as a proponent, but we will also
be considering a broader range of options."

Mr Barnett said the dropping of exclusive rights opened the way for the government
to work with industry to attract new partners to the project.

He said the change would create opportunities to attract Chinese investment, reduce
the project's capital cost and separate infrastructure development and mining interests.

Mr Barnett said the government encouraged Chinese input as vital because Chinese companies
had major interests in Midwest iron ore projects and China was likely to be the biggest
customer for the ore.

In a statement, OPR Chief Executive John Langoulant welcomed the continuation of the
State Development Agreement with the government for the port and rail project.

He said he expected the recently proposed restructure of OPR's ownership to deliver
greater project certainty.

OPR remained the most appropriate vehicle to deliver the project in a timely manner
and project planning, engineering and regulatory approvals were well advanced, Mr Langoulant
said.

"We share the government's long-held vision of an integrated bulk iron ore supply chain,
based on the principle of open access for multiple mines, underpinning creation of a Midwest
mineral province," he said.

The WA and federal governments have agreed to put in $670 million between them to fund
the port, which would be owned by the WA government.

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KEYWORD: OAKAJEE

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