BHP loses appeal on Australian rail-line sharing

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Mining giant BHP Billiton (BHP.AX) (BLT.L) lost an appeal in Australia's highest court on Wednesday against a ruling that it must share its Australian iron-ore rail networks with other miners.

BHP, supported by rival Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) (RIO.L), wanted to stop Fortescue Metals Group (FMG.AX) from being able to use the rail lines to transport ore to the nearest port.

BHP had argued that it managed its mines, rail and port operations the iron-ore fields of remote, northwest Australia as a single integrated system and that the railway was a crucial part of its production process.

Shares in Fortescue, which has been requesting access to the lines since 2004, surged on the news, leaping as much as 7.5 percent to a high of A$7 (3 pounds).

"The High Court unanimously dismissed the appeals," the court said in a judgement summary.

"Fortescue's proposed use of the railway lines did not constitute use of BHP Billiton's iron-ore production process," it added.

Earlier this year, Australia's National Competition Council had ruled in favour of Fortescue. The regulator and lower courts ruled that the rail lines were considered a "service" under Australian Trade Practices laws, and were not part of the owner's production process.

Rio, which also has its own rail networks in the Pilbara iron-ore mining region, has said that allowing competitors to use its networks would lead to a 10 to 20 percent loss in efficiency.

(Reporting by James Grubel, Editing by Mark Bendeich)