Bahia Mineração (Bamin)’s Fiol project will start operations in 2025 and has a capacity to transport up to 18mn mt of cargo per year.
The company won a government auction for a concession to operate a segment of the East-West Integration Railway (Fiol), which will allow the company to export iron ore.
The Fiol project will start operations in 2025 and has a capacity to transport up to 18mn mt of cargo per year, with the capacity to transport 50mn mt per year in 2035. At the beginning of operations, 16 locomotives and 1,400 wagons will be in operation, of which at least 1,100 wagons will be used to transport iron ore, Brazil’s Ministry of Infrastructure said in a statement.
Of the total capacity, 30pc is for iron ore, Eduardo Ledsham, president at Bamin told the media outlet, adding that the company expects to double its iron output at the mine to 2mn mt in 2022. Bamin, which is a high-quality iron ore deposit with 65pc Fe content, will be able to produce 18mn mt per year once it is at full production, according to the company.
Bahia Mineração, a subsidiary of Kazakhstan’s Eurasian Resources Group, offered BRL$32mn ($5.6mn) to the government for the right to operate the railway which runs 537km from Ilhéus to Caetité, in Bahia state, in a concession that will last 35 years.
Under the agreement, Bamin will be also required to invest BRL3.3bn, which includes BRL1.6bn to complete construction of the works, which are completed 80pc, added.
Brazil’s iron ore and concentrates shipments climbed by 34pc to 28.4mn mt in March, from 21.2mn mt exported in the same month the prior year. The average price of a tonne of iron ore increased to $126.6/mt in March, from $64.2/mt in the same month the prior year.