PERTH (miningweekly.com) - Mining giant Rio Tinto on Monday welcomed a decision by the Australian Competition Tribunal that its Hamersley and Robe River rail lines should not be opened to third-party users.
In September last year, the Australian High Court remitted the rail access application by third-party miners, which included iron-ore major Fortescue Metals, back to the Australian Competition Tribunal, requiring it to make a fresh decision after Rio appealed against the federal government’s 2008 decision to make the Hamersley and Robe River lines accessible until 2028.
Responding to the tribunal’s decision, Rio’s acting chief for its iron-ore division, Paul Shannon, said that the company was running a highly efficient railway, which was fully integrated with its ports and mines operations.
“This would be severely hindered if third parties were allowed to run trains on our rail network, not to mention the knock-on negative effect on the Western Australian and national economies from creating such inefficiencies,” Shannon said.
Fortescue said on Monday that it was disappointed with the tribunal’s decision to set aside the original decision, but noted that it did not affect its current operations or expansion plans.
CEO Nev Power noted that it was regrettable that the tribunal did not see the merits of providing third-party access to the infrastructure, to enhance competition and, thereby, deliver greater productivity and efficiency benefits for all Australians.
“Fortescue will continue to provide third-party access to our own rail system and will continue to advocate for third-party access for all Pilbara rail infrastructure,” he added.