On August 24, Australian iron ore company BC Iron Limited announced that it has
formally entered into the Nullagine Joint Venture (NJV) with its 50:50 infrastructure joint venture partner, Fortescue Metals Group Limited (Fortescue), for the development of the Nullagine Iron Ore Project located in Western Australia's Pilbara region.
According to the release, the formation of the NJV is a landmark achievement for BC Iron and opens the way for construction of the Nullagine project to commence later this year ahead of planned production in the first half of 2010.
The formalization of the NJV follows last month's in-principle endorsement from Fortescue for the company's recently completed feasibility study on the Nullagine project. The study confirmed that it is an economically and technically robust Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) project based on an estimated ore reserve of 36 million metric tons at 56.9 percent Fe content.
The project will commence production at an initial rate of 1.5 million mt per year, subsequently increasing to 3 million mt and then to 5 million mt per year, as the infrastructure is upgraded.