Atlas Iron announced on Friday that the government approved its proposed Wodgina iron ore project in Western Australia.

According to the iron ore producer, all environmental approvals were complete and mining will begin in June this year.

Iron ore experts from Wodgina and Pardoo DSO mines in WA will generate a total of six million tonnes per annum (mtpa) on december this year, the company said in a statement.

"To take a project from an iron ore discovery to an iron ore mine in less than 18 months is simply remarkable," managing director David Flanagan of Atlas Iron explained.

"We are now well positioned to benefit from very strong demand, high iron ore prices moving forward, and to meet our target export rate of six mtpa by December 2010."

The company also reported that drilling already started at its Wodgina North iron ore prospect and will proceed to fast track feasibility studies to expand the target production of Wodgina by next year.

In line with this, BGC Contracting, an experienced iron ore mining contractor, has been given the Wodgina Mining Contract with mining to start early in June.

BGC Contracting has existing contracts with Atlas' peer group.

Atlas Iron, a Perth-based iron ore producer, holds a number of key products located at Port Hedland in Western Australia. It holds explorations and mining activities.