Port Adelaide to handle IronClad ore exports

IronClad said it had signed a "cargo logistics proposal" with Flinders Ports for product from Wilcherry Hill, west of the Spencer Gulf.

The supply chain will feature ore trucked 100km to a siding near Port Augusta, then taken by train 350km to the port where it will be loaded directly on to panamax or small capesize bulk carriers.

The miner emphasised that Port Adelaide was an initial export outlet and the deal did not rule out "the proposed Port Bonython bulk shipping facility or other existing South Australian ports from selection in the future as the main export port for the larger scale long-term development of Wilcherry Hill and the adjacent Hercules iron ore projects". 

"IronClad is pursuing both long-term sales contracts and spot iron ore sales and is on course for the first fast-tracked  production in the September quarter of 2010," the company said.