CITIC Pacific’s first shipment of iron ore has set sail from the company’s $8 billion Sino Iron project in Western Australia, according to a statement from the company on Monday. The shipment will head to CITIC Pacific’s special steel mill in Jiangsu province.

As China's biggest investment in Australia, the project was expected to start shipping ore to Chinese steel mills in 2010 in order to ease the tight supply at that time.

However, the project ran into various financial obstacles, including rising costs during construction. While the obstacles delayed ore shipments, the company has expressed confidence in the project’s future.

During a ceremony for the first shipment, Western Australia’s Premier Colin Barnett said the Sino Iron project will deliver a major boost to the Pilbara iron ore industry and is a great example of Chinese confidence in Western Australia

Located in the north of Western Australia, the project is the largest magnetite iron ore project in the country and involves the construction of some of the largest mining and processing infrastructure and equipment in Australia and globally.

The project involves taking low-grade magnetite ore and turning it into a concentrate with a high iron content through a process of grinding, concentration and magnetic separation.

The project is designed to produce 24 million metric tons of iron ore concentrate annually to supply iron ore to CITIC Pacific’s own steel plants as well as other steel producers in China. Chang Zhenming, chairman of CITIC Group, said the company is looking forward to the regular shipment of their product.