Fortescue subsidiary to handle Atlas iron ore

<p>Fortescue Metals and Atlas iron have signed a three-part Pilbara port handling, ship loading and rail haulage memorandum of understanding.</p> <p>In a one-year deal starting next March, Fortescue’s the Pilbara Infrastructure (TPI) arm will handle 1m tonnes per annum (tpa) of iron ore from Fortecue’s Pardoo DSO project, 10m tpa of magnetite concentrate from Atlas’s Pardoo Magnetite project and 3m tpa from Atlas’s Abydos DSO project.</p> <p>It will cover port handling and ship loading at all sites, but rail haulage for Abydos only.</p> <p>&#8220Access to a capsize berth with capacity for 10m tpa of concentrates in a major advantage to the Atlas magnetite project,&#8221 Atlas managing director David Flanagan said.</p> <p>The deal is an interim measure with an eye to the completion of expanded public access port facilities at Port Hedland next year.</p> <p>Atlas is to reveal its direct shipping strategy this month and hopes to export 3m tpa by 2010.</p> <p>&#8220Being able to load iron ore through the TPI ship loader until the new Government facility is completed will minimise our impact on dust and road train traffic through the town of Port Headland,&#8221 Mr Flanagan said.</p> <p>&#8220While Atlas is planning to haul Pardoo iron ore to Port Hedland by road transport, we believe that rail is the safest and most commercially viable means to haul iron ore.</p> <p>&#8220Wherever we can work with infrastructure owners to achieve a workable rail solution, we will.&#8221</p> <br />