Track plans boost miner's mineral sands hopes
Posted
A mining company says its hopes of using rail to transport mineral sands from the Mallee to south-west Victoria will be boosted by a planned track upgrade.
The Victorian Government has announced $39 million will be spent upgrading five rail lines, including the track between Hopetoun and Warracknabeal.
Iluka is developing a mineral sands mine at Kulwin, near Ouyen.
Iluka's general manager, Peter Beilby, says while the upgrade is positive news, more work will be needed to allow the sands to be transported.
"Well, we're looking at using containers that can be carried on both trucks and rail so you can efficiently move between the two, so that's the area we're exploring at the moment," he said.
"I think it's fair to say that for the sort of material that we'd be moving long distance, rail is always our preferred option. But it needs to be economic."
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