SYDNEY: Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart's $10-billion Roy Hill iron ore project aims to start construction on its Australian mine in mid-2013, later than hoped, as assessments by potential lenders stretch into next year, the project's spokesman said on Tuesday.
The Roy Hill partners, targeting 55 million metric tons a year of iron ore, had aimed to start producing in late 2014, but funding has taken longer to line up than expected, chiefly because of the size of the project, which involves building a mine, railway and port rather than just expanding an existing mine.