Orica joins in Burrup joint venture
Orica Ltd. said March 1 that it will join Yara International ASA and Apache Energy in the ownership of the planned Burrup ammonium nitrate plant in Australia.
Orica said it has signed a heads of agreement with Yara and Apache to form a joint venture to build a 330,000 mt/y plant on the Burrup peninsula and distribute ammonium nitrate and other explosives products to mining customers in the Pilbara. Yara will be the operator of the plant and Orica will manage the sales and distribution.
The final agreement is subject to concluding negotiations on the contract for the engineering, procurement and construction of the ammonium nitrate plant and B=board approvals.
The parties are targeting commencement of construction by mid-2012. Orica would have a 45 percent interest in the jv.
Yara and Apache recently took control of the ammonia plant at Burrup, with Yara owning 51 percent and Apache 49 percent.