It is reported that Australia first Chinese-run iron ore operation should be up and running by the end of July its owners said as they confirmed the troubled USD 5.2 billion Pilbara project was running at least a year behind the original schedule.

In a statement y, 80% project owner and operator CITIC Pacific said that once commissioning of the first production line at the Sino Iron project began in June, first iron ore exports were targeted for the latter part of the year.

CITIC said it had held high-level meetings in Beijing last week with key contractors and equipment suppliers including its project partner Metallurgical Corporation of China to review Sino Iron's progress and try to pinpoint project completion.

Attendees at the meetings, including 50 executives from 20 organizations including Siemens, ABB and Schneider Electric, expressed strong commitment to put all necessary resources into the project to enable the start of operation.

(Sourced from au.news.yahoo.com)