In its report for the April-June quarter, Australian iron ore producer Gindalbie announced that the construction process is about to be completed and that structural steel erection has started at its Karara iron ore project, a joint venture with Chinese steelmaker Ansteel, located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Gindalbie stated that the construction works for the storage facility at Geraldton Port have also been completed and that 500 mt of structural steel has been erected. The port facilities are scheduled for commissioning in the quarter ending March 31, 2012.
The joint venture company Karara Mining Ltd (KML) is investing more than $200 million in infrastructure at Geraldton Port to enable a capacity of approximately 16 million mt per year.
For production beyond 16 million mt per year, Karara requires the development of Oakajee Port and has signed a memorandum of understanding as a foundation customer of the project and KML continues to be engaged in constructive negotiations with all parties involved.
The Gindalbie statement also said that US$778.5 million of the US$1.2 billion Karara project loan facility had been used up at the end of the quarter ending June 30.