Derailment forces magnetite onto road

Rail exports of the iron ore, magnetite, by the copper producer Palabora Mining Company, were halted two weeks ago after a train derailment in Limpopo province damaged the rail link between its mining operations and the ports of Richards Bay and Maputo. Palabora, with Rio Tinto the majority shareholder, uses the Brakspruit bridge to transport magnetite – a type of iron ore produced as a by-product of the company’s copper production. But the bridge was destroyed by a fully loaded Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) train, and could be out of service for at least five weeks, according to a Rio Tinto statement to the Johannesburg stock exchange. “As a result, all major train traffic to and from Palabora ...will be re-routed via road ...commodities will then connect to rail to different destinations,” said a Transnet statement.