Oakajee Port and Rail
OPR was established by Murchison and Mitsubishi to develop world class port and rail infrastructure, including a heavy haulage railway and deepwater port at Oakajee, north of Geraldton, which will facilitate the expansion of the Jack Hills Iron Ore Project and provide the catalyst for other miners to develop their iron ore resources in the mid-west.
OPR operates as a standalone business under the stewardship of Chris Eves, who was appointed Chief Executive Officer of OPR in December 2007. Mr Eves has more than 25 years’ experience as an advisor on major infrastructure and civil engineering projects, and has worked with some of the nation’s biggest energy, mining and transport companies including Shell Australia, Rio Tinto, Duke Energy, Crown Casino, PG&E and Edison Mission Energy. He is also a former general counsel at Alcoa and was lead partner of the Engineering and Infrastructure practice at one of
In a momentous development for Murchison, OPR was formally selected on 29 July 2008 by the State Government of Western Australia as the preferred developer of the Oakajee deepwater port, following a competitive tender process initiated in November 2007.
This landmark decision followed several years of hard work by a dedicated team of skilled professionals, initially employed by Murchison and was clear recognition of the technical and financial superiority of OPR’s development proposal for Oakajee.
With the selection of OPR, the development of Oakajee and the associated rail infrastructure will facilitate the expansion of the
Murchison expects to generate significant direct benefits as OPR’s business develops and additional customers sign up to use OPR’s port and rail
OPR expects to finalise a formal Development Agreement with the WA Government that will underpin the delivery of the required transport infrastructure by the end of calendar 2008.