Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill project has found a solution to the problems created when mining services firm Forge Group collapsed.
The massive iron ore mine, currently under construction in the WA Pilbara, is once again back on track as investment cash flows in.
The major construction partner on Roy Hill, Samsung C&T� originally sub-contracted the $1.47 billion contract out to Forge and Duro Felguera in December 2013.
This was Duro Felguera’s first big contract in Australia, however it quickly turned into a fiasco when Forge fell into the hands of the administrator.
“Samsung taking up the slack”
The contract to build a processing plant for the massive Roy Hill iron ore project, was terminated last week, although the Spanish company indicated it had been allowed to complete the work owing to a new agreement with Samsung. The new deal would involve Samsung taking up the slack that the collapse of Forge Construction created.
Samsung made a public statement to the fact that the Roy Hill mining project works were under control and things were moving forward as per schedule.
“thousands of mining jobs have been created”
Iron ore exports from the Roy Hill mine are scheduled for late 2015, so the race is on to get the construction schedule back on track, which involves building the sophisticated mine and associated infrastructure, railway network, a runway, camp and accommodation facilities and port loading facilities.
Thousands of mining jobs have been created at the remote Pilbara mine site, where an expected 55 million tonnes of iron ore will be mined each year.
In order to finance the mine, there remains the issue of the $US7 billion debt package, which is still to be locked in – although current indications point to the finance deal being finalised before the end of February.
Japanese company Marubeni, which is a joint venture partner in Roy Hill would be the main financiers, with additional benefactors being BNP Paribas and the National Australia Bank.
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