Anglo American CEO:Minas Rio To Start Output Earliest In 2013

30th Jul 2010 08:04

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN) is expected to start producing iron ore from its flagship Brazilian Minas Rio iron ore project in 2013 at the earliest, the company's chief executive said Thursday. The Minas Rio project was originally expected to start producing iron ore in 2012 but has suffered setbacks primarily related to licensing and permits for its planned beneficiation plant, Cynthia Carroll said in a conference call with reporters regarding the company's first-half results. A beneficiation plant refines iron ore into grades of iron ore that have more ferrous content. Securing land for the slurry pipeline, which would transport the iron ore from the mine to the port, "does not represent a bottleneck" for the project, Carroll added. The Minas Rio project will take 27 to 30 months to start producing iron ore once the initial approvals are granted. Anglo has 23 of the 33 critical licenses it needs to bring the project to fruition. Company Website: http://www.angloamerican.co.uk -By Alex MacDonald, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9328; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 30, 2010 03:04 ET (07:04 GMT)