Atlas Iron Ltd (ASX:AGO) says it is expecting its Turner River Hub in the Western Australian Pilbara region to play a key role in achieving its annual production target of 12 million tonnes of iron ore by 2012.
The miner says its plan to push expansion has been strongly supported by a pre-feasibility study.
The Hub is expected to have an annual capacity of 10 million tonnes, contributing to Atlas’s target of doubling production from the six million tonnes produced this year.
Altas says the Hub would blend and process ore from three of Atlas’s four north Pilbara iron ore projects in preparation for transport to the new Utah Point port facility at Port Hedland, 95 kilometres away.
Atlas also advises that it is targeting a five-fold increase in exports over the next four months.
Yesterday the miner announced a 50 per cent increase in its reserves for its northern Pilbara projects.
Atlas Iron reported a net loss of $63.14 million for the year to 30 June 2009.