Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting and its joint venture partners have put a $5 billion price tag on developing a major magnetite mine in the Yilgarn.
ASX-listed Legacy Iron Ore, along with its partners Hancock Prospecting and Hawthorn Resources, unveilied its pre-feasibility study for a 12 million tonnes per annum magnetite project under the joint venture.
Hancock now owns a 51 per cent ownership stake in the joint venture, Legacy owns 29.4 per cent and Hawthorn has 19.6 per cent following the completion of the study.
Legacy previously held a 60 per cent stake in the project. Legacy is largely controlled by an Indian government enterprise named the National Mineral Development Corporation.
Product from the mine would likely be destined for India, where Mrs Rinehart has strengthened her ties in recent times.
In the ASX announcement, Legacy said the partners had committed to commencing a forward works plan to further define, optimise and de-risk the project.
Commenting on the release of the pre-feasibility study, a Hancock spokesperson took another swipe at government red tape which it said added “uncertainty to the project despite its technical merit”.
The spokesperson also said the PFS marked an important milestone for the JV.
“The technical outcomes from the work done are positive and further work is being undertaken to optimise the design and costs for supply of power, transport of iron ore product from mine site to a port for export of the product and identification of water sources required for processing and production of the concentrates,” they said.
“However, Australian government tape and approvals processing Australia add uncertainty to the project, despite its technical merit.”
Legacy Iron chief executive Rakesh Gupta said the study showed real economics of the project.
“The project is truly world-class with a grade of 70 per cent Fe making it attractive to end users,” he said.