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A study and report by Sinclair, Knight, Merz on the development of mineral sands covering zones centred on Mildura, Swan Hill, Robinvale and Horsham was published in July 2000. The report claimed that poor infrastructure was threatening a potential multi-billion dollar mineral sands industry in Victoria, emphasising that upgrading of the infrastructure was critical for the projects to be viable on a world basis. Mineral sands - titanium and zirconium and the resulting processed tradeable products rutile, ilmenite and zircon, have many applications from paint and paper to plastics, ceramics and jet planes. The value of the Murray Basin's deposits are about $13 million.
A key recommendation was the creation of a standard gauge link between Mildura and Portland, upgrading and standardising the Mildura line north of Lascelles with a new rail link across to Hopetoun. The report did not indicate that the already standardised Hopetoun line would also require significant upgrading along the length of the route from Murtoa to Hopetoun. Other recommendations included an upgrade and standardisation of the Mildura to Ouyen and Ouyen to Pinnaroo lines to provide direct connection to the Port of Adelaide; upgrading the existing broad gauge lines into Melbourne and Geelong with the focus on product flow from Mildura; and upgraded rail access to the Port of Melbourne.
Road transport would bring sands to a processing plant to be established at Thurla (which would have provided direct rail access had the Morkalla line not been closed and lifted).
Murray Basin Titanium, P&O Ports and the Port of Portland jointly announced on 9-2-2001 that the first mineral sands commercially mined in Victoria's north-west would be exported through Portland in south-west Victoria. P&O Ports in conjunction with P&O Maritime Services and Kalari Transport would transport an initial 50,000 tonnes a year of rutile and ilmenite to overseas customers through the terminal. The heavy metals are concentrated at the Wemen mine and processed at the Murray Basin Titanium plant at Thurla and then trucked to Portland. The Wemen mine and Thurla processing plant were stage one. Processed product in stage two would involve much larger volumes and require rail transport with the Portland option requiring the Mildura line to be standardised. Under the stage one arrangement with Portland, loads of 5,000, 10,000 and 15,000 tonnes would be shipped out at a time. Stage two would see exports jump to 250,000 tons per year.
The State government budget handed down on 15-5-2001 provided a plan for standard gauge conversion of the north-west rail lines offering a choice of standard gauge connection to the ports of Portland and Geelong. The Minister for Transport (Mr. P. Batchelor) came to Mildura straight after the budget and spoke with representatives of the mineral sands industry on 18-5-2001. He informed them of the government's plan to set up an up-to-date, competitive freight network, the standard gauge conversion timetable, the benefits available to the industry by using rail for mineral sands traffic, and how the government would prefer to see value-adding to the mineral sands before it left the country.
Mr. B. Bishop M.L.C., Member for North Western Province, applauded the government's announcement on 2-6-2001, commenting that this development could help trigger a spectacular period of growth if the region realized, lobbied and acted on its potential.
In October 2001, preliminary surveys were made for a railway connection from the Murray Basin Titanium plant at Thurla along the formation of the former Morkalla line railway and to connect with the main line near where the Millewa Road level crossing is located.
In June 2002, the Managing Director of Freight Australia, Mr. M. Van Onselen, released a document titled "Moving Ahead - A Plan for Better Rail Freight in Victoria". Freight Australia proposed that the government help pay for four key projects:
* Upgrading the western lines. (Cost $84.7 million);
* Upgrading the grain network ($23.9 million);
* Improving regional passenger lines ($22.9 million);
* System safety enhancement ($8.8 million)
The initiatives were aimed at upgrading track and terminals to take heavier train loads, to improve signalling, standardise the track, and to upgrade level crossing systems and bridges.
Freight Australia's plan included a strategy to achieve the following objectives for the Mildura line:
* Combining the planned standard gauge conversion and upgrade to Class to track standard for passenger train operation with a further upgrade of the track to take 23 or 25 tonne axle loads in lieu of the present 19 ton axle loads, as a single project;
* Upgrading the existing standard gauge link from Maryborough - Ararat - Maroona - Portland for 23 or 25 tonne axle loads.
Freight Australia claimed the benefits of larger, heavier capacity wagons and faster transit times to freight train operating costs could mean the difference between a viable mineral sands industry and one that remains in the margins.
The strategy was presented to the government and it now remained for the Minister for Transport to decide on the future approach to upgrading and standardisation of the Mildura line. More details on the "Moving Ahead" strategy can be found in the Privatised Freight Traffic section.
Mining company BeMax called tenders to transport mineral sands products from their Ginko mine about 230 kms to Broken Hill and then on rail to Adelaide. Mr. B. Bishop, National Party Member for North Western Province, claimed on 14-12-2002 that the government failed to secure this business because of delays to the standard gauge project, however the recently re-elected Independent Member for Mildura, Mr. R. Savage, countered on 17-12-2002 that the New South Wales government was always going to encourage Broken Hill as a transport priority. Mr. Savage also stated that the standardisation of the Mildura line was still a priority for the State because of the mineral sands industry. He also claimed that the primary reason for the slow start to standardization was strong resistance from Freight Australia, citing failure of the Track Access contract entered into by the Kennett Coalition government.
On 18-6-2003 Murray Basin Titanium announced that the Thurla separation plant would be closed from 27-6-2003 and the treatment of heavy mineral concentrate processed in Bunbury, Western Australia. The Thurla plant was maintained on a care and maintenance basis. It was stated that the Wemen mine and Thurla plant were part of a trial operation under evaluation and it was found that conditions at Wemen were harder than predicted.
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