China backs Australia's cleaner iron ore project
Chinese engineers who carved a railway through the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and built the world's longest sea-bridge across Hangzhou Bay have a new challenge: developing a $3.4 billion project on Australia's remote Eyre Peninsula to meet increased demand for cleaner iron ore.
China Railway Group Ltd, the world's second-largest infrastructure builder, is backing the mine, port and rail-road project that aims to supply high-quality, lower-emission ore to Chinese steel mills facing stricter environmental rules.
The project would be a major step toward South Australia's goal of securing A$10 billion ($7.7 billion) of investments to fund a stable of new iron ore mines by 2021. China Railway's partner Iron Road Ltd aims to bring the 24 million metric ton-a-year mine into production in late 2020 after tests showed its product can help customers meet the tougher standards.
