Brockman/Min Resources JV at Port Hedland advances following WA Govt greenlight

Shares in Brockman Mining (ASX: BCK) were up by around a third going into lunch following revelations the WA Government has granted port capacity allocation to the investment holding company’s JV partner Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MRL) and Hancock Prospecting for a new iron ore export facility at Port Hedland.

April 2021 saw Mineral Resources forge a JV with the Chinese-owned Brockman with the intention of bringing a sizable amount of Pilbara iron ore hub into production annually.

Fast forward the best part of a year, and the fruits of this JV appear to be a major step closer to being realised.

From 20m to 90m tonnes annually

Subject to various relevant approvals and agreements, expected by mid-2022, Mineral Resources – which was also up 2.37% after lunch today - is aiming to ship at least 20m tonnes of iron ore per annum from this facility.

Under the terms of the JV agreement between Brockman and Mineral Resources over the Marillana and Ophthalmia Projects, the latter JV partner will also provide a logistics system to transport the ore from the mine to the ship for export from the port of Port Hedland.

Over an estimated 42 months, Mineral Resources is expected to fund $105m worth of initial development works at the ‘Marillana’ and ‘Ophthalmia’ project mine sites, plus the transport corridor and port area.

Through a series of developments and acquisitions, the company [Mineral Resources) hopes to expand from a 20m tonnes per annum (Mtpa) miner to a 90Mtpa major within 3-5 years.

Pathway to value uplift

Brockman management noted:

“Brockman is delighted with this progress which clears the path to unlock the significant value contained within the high-quality ores at Marillana & Ophthalmia.”

While Brockman has a market cap of $566m, Mineral Resources ranks 46 on the ASX 200 with a market cap of $11.1bn.

Consensus does not cover Brockman.

Consensus on Mineral Resources is Moderate Buy.