Australian miner Rio Tinto has announced that the High Court of Australia has granted Fortescue Metals Group Ltd and the National Competition Council (NCC) permission to appeal the decision of the Full Federal Court regarding third party utilization of the Pilbara rail lines in Western Australia.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, the Full Federal Court has endorsed the decision of the Australian Competition Tribunal not to open Australian miner Rio Tinto's Hamersley rail network in the Pilbara region to third party utilization.
Rio Tinto stated that no date has been set for the hearing of these appeals but it is expected that they will be listed in the first half of 2012. Rio Tinto said it will take all appropriate steps against the appeals in question.