FORTESCUE Metals Group (FMG) has applied to declare Rio’s Robe River railway open to third parties.
The Pilbara Infrastructure Pty Ltd (TPI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (FMG), lodged an application with the National Competition Council under Part IIIA of the Trade Practices Act 1974 to declare Rio Tinto’s Robe River Railway which runs from Rio’s Mesa J (Deepdale) mine site to Rio’s port at Cape Lambert.
The application to declare the Robe River Railway comes two months after TPI lodged similar declaration applications over Rio’s Hamersley Iron Railway Network and BHP Billiton’s Goldsworthy Railway.
“Fortescue is seeking to open the tremendous transport logistic synergies available in the Pilbara to all Australian mining companies,” said Fortescue’s executive director Graeme Rowley.
“There are numerous stranded iron ore deposits in the Pilbara which alone may not be of sufficient scale to support their own infrastructure yet could become viable with access to existing infrastructure such as the Robe River Railway,” Rowley added.