With fatherly pride, Andrew Forrest sweeps his arm across the scene at Cloudbreak, a huge iron ore mine set in the landscape of Western Australia's Pilbara region.
The billionaire Australian mining magnate and founder of Fortescue Metals is surveying a scene of frenetic activity. Dozens of trucks are being loaded with the Pilbara's rich red dirt before a custom-built railway line takes it to the coast hundreds of kilometres away and then on to ships destined for Chinese steelmakers.
On the surface, Mr Forrest appears unconcerned over the recent collapse of a $6bn financing package from China that would have funded a quantum leap in Fortescue's iron ore production.