Gina Rinehart's $US10 billion Roy Hill iron ore project is expected to begin shipping ore in six months and ramp up to 55 million tonnes per annum well within 30 months, chief executive Barry Fitzgerald says.
Mr Fitzgerald said the company was under no financial pressure despite lower iron prices and remained focused on productivity, efficiency and cost reductions.
"We talk about 30 months and our view is we can do that much more efficiently," Mr Fitzgerald told an iron ore conference in Perth on Wednesday.
"We certainly aren't planning for 30 months."
Mr Fitzgerald said the joint venture Pilbara iron ore project was 76 per cent complete, on budget and on schedule.
However, the iron ore price has fallen to a six year low of $US57 per tonne as majors Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group boost supply to China.
Mr Fitzgerald declined to criticise the large Australian iron miners for driving prices down through oversupply and said the market had "perhaps overshot," as people underestimated the growth of the Chinese market.
"Iron pricing is very volatile, it's a cyclical sector," he said.
Roy Hill expects to have similar pricing arrangements to majors BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
Mr Fitzgerald also declined to comment on the WA state government's royalty relief scheme for smaller iron ore producers.
He added that after nine recent crane and rigging accidents, contractors were implementing processes to ensure that serious incidents did not occur again.
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