New Zealand's iron sand exports could soar to almost 10 million tonnes a year by 2016, as Australia's BlueScope Steel adds shipping capacity at its Taharoa site and Trans-Tasman Resources remains hopeful of approval for its offshore mining venture.
ASX-listed BlueScope said last week it would introduce a 175,000 tonne slurry loading vessel at Taharoa, south of Kawhia, in 2016 and spend A$50 million ($54.38 million) through 2018 on mining, processing and ship loading equipment.
The third ship will add 1.3 million tonnes a year of export capacity at Taharoa, which is expected to rise to about 4 million tonnes annually in 2016, the Melbourne-based company said. It estimates the resource at Taharoa is sufficient to produce 4 million tonnes a year for 15 years.
Trans-Tasman plans to extract between 4 million and 5 million tonnes a year starting in 2016 from a 65.76sq km area off the North Island coast, west of Patea. Its application suffered a setback this month when the Environmental Protection Authority extended the submission period until January 28 and pushed back the start date for public hearings after administrative problems.
The company has said it plans to raise as much as US$500 million ($615 million) in debt and equity from a combination of existing and new shareholders, and prospective Chinese customers in mid-2014, assuming it wins regulatory approvals.