Zhang Jijing, general manager of Hong Kong-registered CITIC Pacific, has lately said that his company will launch initial production operations at its Sino Iron magnetite iron ore mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australian this year, with further expansions of production activities due next year.
The company's iron ore project in Australia has been facing two sources of pressure, including the increase in the investment cost of the project and the 40 percent resource windfall tax that the Australian government has sought to impose on mining companies. Mr. Zhang said that the current investment budget for the project is $5.2 billion (HK$40.56 billion).