PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed junior Iron Ore Holdings (IOH) has secured a port lease agreement with the Dampier Port Authority to develop a port solution for its Buckland project, in Western Australia.

The agreement provides IOH with the exclusive rights to develop and operate a 20-million-tonne-a-year port facility at Cape Preston East, for a period of 20 years.

The new port facility will underpin an independent export supply chain solution for the planned Buckland project, which also includes an eight-million-tonne-a-year mine at Bungaroo South, and a new 196 km sealed haul road.

“The execution of the lease agreement for IOH’s port facility is a key milestone in the history of this company and in the development of the Buckland project,” said MD Alwyn Vorster.

He noted that the company was progressively moving closer to realising its objective of delivering a fit-for-purpose, fully integrated mine, road and port development at significantly lower capital cost than other proposed developments in the West Pilbara.

The construction lease would allow IOH to develop a 25 km port access road, a stockyard area capable of supporting 20-million tonnes a year throughput and a 1.4 km trestle jetty with a conveyor and shiploader system.

The operating lease gave the company exclusive management rights over the leased area for an initial term of 20 years, and IOH would have the right to extend this term and expand the lease area, subject to certain conditions.

“Access to port space is a rare and valuable commodity in the Pilbara, and with the approval of IOH’s Cape Preston East port facility, the Western Australian government has created the potential for our company to unlock numerous new mine developments in the West Pilbara, with significant long-term benefits for the state,” Vorster said.

He pointed out that third-party access to the port facility could be implemented either through direct commercial agreements with IOH, or pursuant to a third-party access regime agreed with the Dampier Port Authority.

Vorster said that the company would actively engage with other explorers and miners in the region with the aim of aggregating additional tonnage to fully use the infrastructure, and to maximise the economic benefits of the project.