Iron Ore (continued) order to meet the rising quality standards established by the steel industries which it serves, Marcona's Peruvian subsidiary, Marcona Mining Co., has continually increased its capacity to produce beneficiated iron ore products. As a result, the operation today is a complex installation of mining and processing equipment with the ability to produce in excess of ten million tons of beneficiated product each year, including four million tons of highly merchantable iron ore pellets. Since it is located in an arid and undeveloped area, Marcona also has provided the capital for fulfilling the housing, medical and educational needs of the community. Marcona's New Zealand venture consists of mining iron-bearing coastal sands through the use of a hydraulic dredge. Then, in slurry form the iron ore is concentrated and pumped offshore to specially designed ships. Shipments of approximately one million tons were made in 1973. Marcona has formed a joint venture with SAMITRI, an iron ore mining company in Brazil; pending Brazilian government approvals, this venture will utilize a 240-mile iron ore slurry pipeline to the Atlantic Coast. There, approximately five million tons of the nearly seven million tons of annual production of iron ore will be pelletized in a new plant. These pellets will then be sent to customers in the United States and Europe. Also in the preliminary study stage is the possible construction of a steel plant in Saudi Arabia in partnership with PETROMIN, the Saudi Arabian government development corporation. This plant would utilize iron ore from the Brazilian operation and take advantage of low-cost, abundant natural gas available for use as an energy source. Trucks of 120-ton (109-metric ton) capacity are loaded using a 10-cubic yard (8-cubic meter) shovel at the Mount Goldsworthy open-pit mine in Western Australia. Following primary crushing operations, the iron ore is transported via rail to Finucane Island. The crushing and blending plant at Finucane Island processes some 8 million long tons (8.1 million metric tons) of iron ore annually from Mount Goldsworthy. At the adjoining berth, 100,000-long ton (102,000-metric ton) vessels are loaded for shipment to steel manufacturers. 20