Liveris-backed Leichhardt eyes port at Cape Preston East

A privately-owned company eyeing a $280 million salt project near Karratha will seek a loan from the Federal Government to help develop a new multi-user port facility at Cape Preston East.

The Andrew Liveris-backed Leichhardt Industrials is preparing an application to the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility for a low-interest loan to build a multi-commodity export facility.

The port infrastructure would include a 1500m trestle jetty and use a trans-shipping model of loading for ocean-going vessels offshore.

Last month Leichhardt struck a deal with fellow Pilbara salt aspirant BCI Minerals that transferred the so-called Mount Salt tenement to the Kerry Stokes-backed company and an option on another tenement in exchange for $6m and environmental and technical work undertaken into the proposed Cape Preston East port.

For BCI, the extra land will give it the potential to expand its proposed 5.5Mtpa Mardie project to make it the biggest salt project in Australia.

For Leichardt, the extra cash will allow it to complete a $12 million bankable feasibility study on its 2.4Mtpa Eramurra salt project 55km south-west of Karratha and advance its plans for a port at Cape Preston East.

Leichardt managing director John Canaris said the port data provided a valuable head start for the evaluation of a new bulk export facility at Cape Preston East.

The company said it had already begun working with the Pilbara Ports Authority to establish itself as foundation proponent for the new $100 million multi-user facility.

Important environmental baseline survey work into the port began late last year, with further studies scheduled until 2022.

Cape Preston East lies 60km south-west of Dampier and adjacent to the Sino Iron project’s export facilities at Cape Preston, which also use a trans-shipping model.

The former Iron Ore Holdings secured State and Federal approvals to build a port at Cape Preston East in 2013, before it was taken over by BC Iron, which was subsequently renamed BCI Minerals when it shifted its focus from iron ore to salt.

BCI has plans for its own port facilities at Cape Preston West as part of its Mardie project.

Eramurra is expected to have a peak construction workforce of 200 and a Karratha-based operational workforce of 70 full-time employees as well as 5-10 Perth head office based staff.

Leichardt says independent modelling shows the total direct and indirect local economic impact from Eramurra is estimated at $722 million with over $100 million to be spent in Karratha.

Shareholders of Leichardt include Hamburg based industrial salt consultancy ConSalt, Resource Capital Funds and former Dow Chemical boss Andrew Liveris.

* Note: Key Company and Project Details have changed since the release of the article