About the Alliance
The North West Iron Ore Alliance (NWIOA) was formed in 2007 by a group of emerging iron ore companies with assets in the Pilbara region of Western Australia and a shared interest in promoting the development of a vibrant junior iron ore mining and export industry in this world-class iron ore mining province.
Currently, the NWIOA has three members, each of which is aggressively exploring and developing new iron ore projects in the Pilbara region. Collectively, these companies have the potential to develop long-term iron ore production and export businesses capable of delivering up to 50 million tonnes per annum of production by 2013. Alliance members have delineated combined high-grade hematite, Channel Iron Deposit and detrital resources totalling approximately 1.6 billion tonnes and magnetite resources totalling some 2 billion tonnes. The members are:
- Atlas Iron Limited
- Brockman Resources Limited
- FerrAus Limited
The Alliance companies are majority owned by Australian shareholders, and have already made a substantial contribution to the Pilbara regional economy, having raised in excess of $500 million in capital since 2004 to underpin aggressive iron ore exploration, evaluation and feasibility programs.
Between them, the three Alliance members employ approximately 200 people and this figure is expected to increase rapidly in the months ahead, as they progress from scoping studies, through feasibility studies to production. The first iron ore production from a North West Iron Ore Alliance member commenced in October 2008.
The members of the NWIOA have agreed to cooperate by working together to enhance and accelerate the development of the junior iron ore sector to take advantage of the current strong growth cycle in the global iron ore industry. Key areas of focus include infrastructure access and development, statutory approvals, Government relations and building strong relations with communities in the Pilbara region.
While the Pilbara iron ore industry is dominated by the major incumbent producers, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, a number of factors have combined in recent years to underpin the emergence of a new generation of producers.
The key driver of this increased diversity has been the growth of the Chinese economy over the past decade, and the surging demand from its steel industry for additional supplies of high-quality iron ore. This in turn has fuelled increased investment in exploration for new iron ore deposits in the Pilbara region, both amongst the majors and a group of dynamic junior iron ore companies.
