China making Aussie miners rich
After four days, Jason Manifis is three-quarters of the way through driving his weekly 1,100-mile loop around northwestern Australia, selling more frozen fish than ever to hungry iron-ore miners.
A day earlier, workers blanketed in rust-red ore dust lined up 20 deep outside the giant Newman mine to buy shrimp, cod, barramundi or any of the dozen or so varieties of seafood Manifis carts around the outback each week in his refrigerated truck.
“Sales are up thirty, forty percent this year alone,” he says. “Everybody here’s cashed up.”
A mining frenzy spurred by a voracious appetite among Chinese steel mills for rich Australian ore has mining companies scrambling to fill orders, flooding this corner of the outback with thousands of highly-paid workers. (news)
