Stage 1 was originally intended to accommodate 35Mtpa.“The level of iron ore tonnage nominations we received last month from regional miners made it clear that there is a real case to consider greater start-up capacity than we had originally anticipated,” OPR chief executive John Langoulant said.The company is aiming to finalise the project parameters this year, while the port is due for completion in late 2013 or early 2014.Today OPR also announced its three potential foundation customers for contractual discussions.Sinosteel Midwest, Karara Mining and Crosslands Resources are the three companies who may receive an offer of initial capacity.Sinosteel has the Weld Range project, Karara is developing its namesake project and Crosslands owns the Jack Hills project.OPR will hold discussions with the companies over project timing, volumes and financial capacity with the aim of entering memoranda of understanding.OPR is a 50:50 joint venture between Murchison Metals and Mitsubishi Development, as is Crosslands.A feasibility study will be delivered to the WA government before the end of this month.
