Bahia Mineração – BAMIN, an iron ore project with mine in Caetité, state of Bahia and port in Ilhéus, also in Bahia, are in urgent need for an investor to allocate $6.0 billion for the conclusion of the construction works which include a railroad linking mine and port.
The main attraction of the project is its iron ore, a pellet-feed grade product with iron contents of up to 68 percent that could be produced at a pace of 26.5 million mt per year.
Bamin is currently owned by the Eurasian Natural Resources Group – ERG, but according to analysts, the conclusion of the project became too expensive and of high risk for a single investor, as its profitability requires the conclusion of mine, railroad, and port works to operate as an export corridor.
According to the local press, the local iron ore miner, Vale, is considering the acquisition of the project, counting on the support of the federal and Bahia state governments with the participation of BNDES, the country’s federal development bank.
If the negotiations succeed, it would be the first greenfield project to be developed by Vale since the Carajás project, in the north of the country, during the decade of 1980.