Australia-based Western Desert Resources Limited (WDR) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Xstrata Zinc to investigate the feasibility of gaining access to Xstrata Zinc's McArthur River Mine loading facility at Bing Bong on the Gulf of Carpentaria, Northern Territory, Australia.
Access to the loading facility will enable WDR to speed up its plans to ship iron ore from the Roper Bar Iron Ore Project and reduce capital expenditure requirements to A$50 per annualized ton of iron ore.
According to the agreement, the feasibility studies will last three months, investigating whether the loading facility will be able to meet the initial needs of WDR to handle 2.5 to 3.0 million mt per year.