Help for Flinders Mines continue to pour in as it announced on Wednesday it has entered into a non-binding agreement with an independent rail provider to scout possible solutions to transport iron ore on a multi-user rail line from the Pilbara to nearby ports on the Western Australian coast.

The South Australia-based company did not name the identity of the independent rail provider, but said it has significant experience in large, bulk commodity transport in Australia. Flinders managing director Gary Sutherland also said it was not one of the current iron ore companies with their own rail networks in the region, though the company has also been discussing options with those companies.

Flinders Mines' flagship project, its wholly-owned Pilbara iron-ore project, has an expected development cost of $640 million. Its planned start-up rate of 15 million tonnes per annum is by the 4th quarter of 2014.

"The HOA provides scope to jointly tackle the rail haulage task in terms of timing, route location, tonnage, product mix and material handling - at the mine site, en route and portside," Sutherland said.

"The relationship also provides opportunity for substantial joint focus on the critical approvals and tenure processes associated with constructing and operating Pilbara rail assets."