<p>FreightLink has signed a five-year contract with Bootu Creek resources to rail 600,000 tonnes a year of manganese for export from Darwin’s East Arm port.</p> <p>The deal will mean an extra four train services a week and represents the first bulk haulage contract for the Adelaide-Darwin rail link.</p> <p>The manganese will be trucked 50 km from the Bootu Creek mine, which is 160 km north of Tennant Creek, to a rail siding for haulage to Darwin.</p> <p>It will be offloaded at East Arm using port of Darwin’s new bottom discharge facility and then shipped to China for use in steel production, FreightLink said.</p> <p>FreightLink chairman Malcolm Kinnaird said the Northern Territory’s investment in bulk handling facilities had played a significant role in landing the deal and it was hoped this will stimulate further contracts with bulk minerals projects in the territory and South Australia.</p> <p>The Northern Territory Government said the mine is expected to generate $70m a year in export earnings for the territory.</p> <p>East Arm port’s bulk handling facilities are due for completion in August 2005 – about the time the mine is expected to start operations.</p> <br />
