SUE LANNIN: He says developments in India are also driving the iron ore price. JONATHAN BARRATT: We've actually seen 93 mines actually shut. The Supreme Court of India actually shut the mines due to the fact that they were contaminating ground water. Now that in itself has caused a supply restriction to the market which has certainly helped the market. Now that was a bit of a surprise, so we will probably will see a little bit more lift in the price of iron ore prices. SUE LANNIN: Iron ore prices have jumped by around one quarter over December. That's seen iron miners like Fortescue Metals kick-start mothballed operations, although miners are also keeping a close eye on rising costs. Jonathan Barratt says he expects prices to stay high because big miners like Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton have shelved some expansion plans.