Mineral Resources has entered into a Heads of Agreement with QR Freight for the transportation of iron ore from the Yilgarn project to Kwinana Port, with operations scheduled to commence in January 2011, representing an important advance in the development of the Yilgarn iron ore project.

The company said this is a key step towards finalizing a formal Rail Haulage Agreement for the provision of rail services from the Yilgarn Project in the Central Yilgarn Region of Western Australia to Kwinana Bulk Terminal south of Perth.

The initial annual haulage is 4 million tonne per annum with a provision to rise up to 10 million tonne per annum with the Yilgarn Stage 2 expansion.

Mineral Resources said the agreement is subject to MRL being successful in obtaining capacity to export product from KBT and successfully negotiating an agreement in respect of the port handling arrangements.

Mr Peter Wade MD of Mineral Resources said the accelerated development of the Yilgarn was very pleasing, both for long-standing MRL shareholders and former Polaris shareholders who accepted MRL’s takeover offer.

He added that “Working with highly experienced partners such as QR is part of a fundamental strategy to develop and maintain successful iron ore operations in the Yilgarn region of Western Australia. We welcome QR Freight as a new partner and we look forward to working with them to achieve world class performance in developing and expanding the iron ore production and haulage from the Yilgarn Project.”

(Sourced from www.proactiveinvestors.com.au)