Possible iron smelter for Coober Pedy

[David Bromage <dbromage@omni.com.au>]

The Commonwealth government has provided $1 million towards a $16.2
million demonstration pig iron smelter at Whyalla using new Australian
smelting technology called Ausmelt. The South Australian government has
also provided $1 million. 

If the demonstration is successful, a $1.2 billion smelter is to be
built at Coober Pedy. The principal markets for pig iron produced there
would be Indonesia and South Korea, amounting to 2.4 million tonnes per
year at a value of $400 million.

There was a discussion some time ago about the discovery of deposits of
coal and iron ore in the Coober Pedy area, about 50km east of the Alice
Springs line. If Indonesia is one of the major markets, it would make
sense to ship the stuff from Darwin.

Cheers
David