Spoornet confirms plans for second iron ore line

ED RICHARDSON
SPOORNET LAST week confirmed that a study was under way to establish a second iron-ore rail-line for South Africa similar to the Sishen - Saldanha line.
The line would run between Sishen and the port of Ngqura - the original site of the iron ore export terminal, which was rerouted to Saldanha.
According to Spoornet, “there is also a possibility for some of the iron-ore and manganese ore from these and other mines to be beneficiated at Coega, should two manganese ferroalloy smelters and various steel-related plants, all in a planning phase, pass financial muster.” Coega Development Corporation (CDC) executive manager business development Eugene Heeger says even though Spoornet’s Sishen - Saldanha line is in the process of being upgraded, there is potential for a second line, and government has acknowledged that a line to Coega is the logical solution.
As Coega is a new development, it is possible to tailor-make infrastructure for the exporting of iron-ore.
Heeger says a possible difficulty is that there are no excess iron-ore wagons or locomotives available at the moment, and that the cost of these is very high.
Another challenge would be to convince the iron-ore mines, most of which have argued for upgrading of the existing export channel, that the Coega option is feasible. A line from the Northern Cape to the Eastern Cape already exists, but would also have to be substantially upgraded before it was capable of carrying bulk ore trains, according to Spoornet.