Iron ore mining in Western Australia, in the 2018–19

financial year A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...

, accounted for 54 percent of the total value of the state's resource production, with a value of A$78.2 billion. The overall value of the minerals and petroleum industry in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

was A$145 billion in 2018-19, a 26 percent increase on the previous financial year. Western Australia's iron ore output for 2020–21 was 838.7 million tonnes, the second-highest figure after 2017–18. The bulk of Western Australian ore went to China, which imported 82% of 2021 production, followed by Japan and South Korea, with 6% each. The state has the world's largest reserves of iron ore with 29% of the world's iron ore, followed by Brazil with 19%, Russia with 15% and China with 12%. In 2020–21 the

Western Australian Government The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government o ...

received A$9.8 billion in royalties from the iron ore mining industry in the state.

History

While the Pilbara iron ore deposits were known, such as the Mount Whaleback deposit discovered in 1957 by Stan Hilditch, it was not until 1960, when the

Australian government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

lifted the embargo on iron ore exports that it had put in place because of concerns the mineral was in short supply, that mining began in earnest.Newman
''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', published: 8 February 2004, accessed: 10 November 2010 Up until the mid-1960s, iron ore production in Western Australia, and Australia as a whole, was negligible, in the range of less than 10 million tons a year. By the mid-1970s, this figure had reached 100 million tonnes, with the majority coming from Western Australia. Production slightly declined in the 1980s but it improved in the 1990s, reaching 150 million tonnes for the country by 1997 and 200 million tonnes by 2003.Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistic Digest 2008-09

Department of Mines and Petroleum The Department of Mines and Petroleum was a department of the Government of Western Australia until it was superseded by the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety on 1 July 2017.

website, accessed: 26 November 2010 The first mine in the Pilbara, the

Goldsworthy mine Goldsworthy (named after the geographical feature Mount Goldsworthy) is a former mining town in Western Australia, east of Port Hedland, Western Australia, Port Hedland and located in the Shire of East Pilbara. It was the first iron ore mine in t ...

, was developed in 1965 by Mount Goldsworthy Mining Associates, a joint venture between the British-owned Consolidated Goldfields (Aust) Pty Ltd,

Cyprus Mines Corporation The Cyprus Mines Corporation was an early twentieth century American mining company based in Cyprus. In 1914, Charles G. Gunther began prospecting in the Skouriotissa area after reading in ancient books that the island was rich in copper and n ...

of Los Angeles, and Utah Construction & Mining Company of San Francisco. A private railway line, the

Goldsworthy railway The Goldsworthy railway, owned and operated by BHP, is a private rail network in the Pilbara region of Western Australia built to carry iron ore. It is one of two railway lines BHP operates in the Pilbara, the other being the Mount Newman rai ...

, as well as port facilities at

Finucane Island Finucane Island () is located adjacent to Port Hedland in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.Gazetteer of Australia The Gazetteer of Australia is an index or dictionary of the location and spelling of geographical names across Australia. Geo ...

Port Hedland A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...

, were also constructed. On 1 June 1966, the first shipment of iron ore from the Pilbara left on board the ''Harvey S. Mudd''.History of the Iron Ore Industry and the Pilbara
BHP Billiton website, accessed: 10 November 2010 BHP's operations in Newman date back to 1968, when the Mount Whaleback mine was opened, the biggest single

open-pit Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of mining ...

iron ore mine in the world. A new town, Mount Newman, was constructed, as well as a 426 kilometre railway line, the

Mount Newman railway The Mount Newman railway, owned and operated by BHP, is a private rail network in the Pilbara region of Western Australia built to carry iron ore. It is one of two railway lines BHP operates in the Pilbara, the other being the Goldsworthy rail ...

. The first train left Mount Newman on 1 January 1969 and the first shipment of Newman ore left port on 1 April 1969 on board of the ''Osumi Maru''. Newman remained a "closed" company town until 1981. Rio Tinto's iron ore operations in the Pilbara began in 1966,Pilbara
Rio Tinto Iron Ore website, accessed: 6 November 2010 with the

Mount Tom Price mine The Mount Tom Price mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, near the town of Tom Price. The mine is fully owned and operated by Rio Tinto Iron Ore and is one of twelve iron ore mines the company operates in ...

opened that year, becoming the company's first mine to open in the Pilbara.

Overview

Exploration

In 2008-09, expenditure for exploration in iron ore in Western Australia increased by 33 percent compared to the previous financial year, 2007-08. The A$560 million spend on iron ore exploration accounted for 45 percent of all mineral exploration expenditure in the state.

Production

Mayor West Australian Commodities in 2020

The bulk of iron ore production in Western Australia comes from the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a g ...

region of the state. A number of mines however are also located in the

Mid West The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

and Kimberley regions as well as in the Wheatbelt. The big two producers,

Rio Tinto Rio Tinto, meaning "red river", may refer to: Businesses * Rio Tinto (corporation), an Anglo-Australian multinational mining and resources corporation ** Rio Tinto Alcan, based in Canada ** Rio Tinto Borax in America *** Rio Tinto Borax Mine, ...

and

BHP BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...

accounted for 90 percent of all iron ore production in the state in 2008-09, with the third-biggest producer being the

Fortescue Metals Group Fortescue Metals Group Limited (often referred to as Fortescue Metals Group, FMG, or simply Fortescue) is an Australian iron ore company. As of 2017, Fortescue is the fourth-largest iron ore producer in the world. The company has holdings of m ...

. Rio Tinto operates twelve iron ore mines in Western Australia, BHP seven, Fortescue two, all of those are located in the Pilbara region.

Railways

Pilbara region

The three largest iron ore producers operate private rail networks to transport ore from their mines to ports on the coast. BHP operates the

and the

, both terminating at Port Hedland. Rio Tinto operates the

Hamersley & Robe River railway The Hamersley & Robe River railway, majority-owned by Rio Tinto, and operated by its subsidiary Pilbara Iron, is a private rail network in the Pilbara region of Western Australia for the purpose of carrying iron ore. The network is larger than ...

, formed in a 2001 merger of the Hamersley and Robe River railways. The two lines terminate at Cape Lambert and Dampier. FMG's

Fortescue railway The Fortescue railway, owned and operated by Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), is a private rail network in the Pilbara region of Western Australia built to carry iron ore. It opened in 2008.Infrastructure: Rail
Fortescue website, accessed: 6 November 2010 Before deciding to construct its own line, the National Competition Council of Australia received an application from FMG, on 15 June 2004, to use part of the Mount Newman railway and also part of the Goldsworthy railway. In June 2010, the Australian Competition Tribunal ruled that FMG would be granted access to Rio Tinto's Robe River line and BHP Billiton's Goldsworthy line but not to the busier Hamersley and Mount Newman lines. Treasurer

Wayne Swan Wayne Maxwell Swan (born 30 June 1954), often colloquially referred to as Swanny, is an Australian politician who is National President of the Labor Party. He was previously the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and Deputy Leader of the Labor ...

suggested that several advantages would accrue from access to the rail lines by third parties. It would increase competition, reduce duplication of infrastructure, and reduce environmental damage.

Atlas Iron Atlas Iron is an Australian mining company and an iron ore explorer, developer and producer, predominantly active in the Pilbara region and is owned by Redstone Resources, a fully owned subsidiary of Hancock Prospecting.

, another junior iron ore miner, is hopeful to come to terms with BHP Billiton in regards to using some of the company's rail infrastructure, the Goldsworthy railway, in the future. BHP, in late 2010, had agreed to a joint feasibility study into how an arrangement might work. Access to the rail networks by third parties is governed by the State Agreements Act.

Westrail region

Other mines connect to port using the state government-owned railways. Examples are Windarling Range and

Koolyanobbing Koolyanobbing is located north-northeast of the town of Southern Cross, Western Australia. A subsidiary of Cleveland-Cliffs of Cleveland, Ohio mines Iron ore here. The ore is railed to the port at Esperance for export. Current operations commen ...

- from Koolyanobbing to the port of Esperance; Koolanooka and Mungada using a 60km spur line linking to the state network at Morawa; and Mt Gibson trucking to an ore loading siding at Perenjori.

Ports

In the Pilbara, iron ore is shipped from Port Hedland, Dampier and Cape Lambert. The latter two ports are exclusively used by Rio Tinto, while Port Hedland is used by BHP, FMG and Atlas Iron. Port facilities at Port Hedland consist of Nelson Point and Finucane Island, both BHP, and Herb Elliott Port, used by FMG. In Dampier, ore is shipped from Parker Point and East Intercourse Island. The non-Pilbara mines ship their ore out of other ports: Windarling Range ships from the port of Esperance; the Jack Hills, Koolanooka, Mungada and Mt Gibson mines ship from

Geraldton Geraldton ( Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...

Projects

BHP is currently spending A$1.85 billion on its ''Rapid Growth Project 4'', aimed at increasing its annual iron ore output to 155 million tonnes. To achieve this, upgrades to both mines and port facilities are necessary. The project is scheduled for completion by 2010. As a follow-up, ''Rapid Growth Project 5'', with a budget of A$4.8 billion, targets a further production increase of 50 million tonnes annually. Additionally to upgrades at the mines and ports, it will also include duplication of existing railway lines and is scheduled for completion in late 2011. The Jimblebar mine is part of another expansion project, launched in 2010 and aimed at increasing production from the Pilbara mines to 240 million tonnes of iron ore annually by 2013. The expansion of Jimlebar, together with an expansion of the inner harbour at Port Hedland and works on the duplication of rail tracks is estimated to cost A$2.15billion. The project is titled ''Rapid Growth Project 6''. Rio Tinto declared its intent to expand the Hope Downs mine, spending a further A$1.78 billion on its new Hope Downs 4 project, scheduled to produce 15 million tonnes of iron ore annually by 2013. Rio has commenced construction on its new Western Turner Syncline project. Rio Tinto allocated a further A$1.24 billion in early December 2010, to expand the

Brockman 4 mine The Brockman 4 mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, north-west of Tom Price. The mine, located near the existing Brockman mine, was opened in 2010.Cape Lambert Cape Lambert is a port facility operated by Rio Tinto Iron Ore in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is located 40 kilometres north of Karratha.

, which is scheduled to undergo a further expansion, to be completed by 2012. The new expansion is scheduled to cost A$276million. The expansion is part of a plan to raise Rio's annual production from the Pilbara from 220 to 330 million tonnes annually by 2016. To achieve this, the Cape Lambert port capacity will be expanded to handle an additional 100 million tonnes annually. Plans by the Fortescue Metals Group to increase production from 39 million tonnes to 55 million tonnes through a US$220 million upgrade of the

Cloud Break mine The Cloudbreak mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 89 kilometres west-south-west of Nullagine, in the Chichester Range. The mine is fully owned and operated by the Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) and is ...

had to be abandoned in October 2009 because of funding difficulties through its Chinese investors. Instead, Fortescue decided to develop its Christmas Creek mine, at a cost of US$360 million, by building a mine and process plant there and linking it to its existing rail network. Christmas Creek is scheduled to produce 16 million tonnes of iron ore in its first year of operation. Fortescue plans to reach an annual production of 95 million tonnes of iron ore by 2012, downgraded from an earlier target of 120 million. At

Cape Preston Cape Preston is a rocky headland located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, situated West South West of Karratha. It lies on the tribal land of the indigenous Nhuwala. Cape Preston is a standard Bureau of Meteorology reference point ...

, CITIC Pacific Mining is currently, as of 2010, in the process of constructing a 27.6 million tonnes per annum

magnetite Magnetite is a mineral and one of the main iron ores, with the chemical formula Fe2+Fe3+2O4. It is one of the oxides of iron, and is ferrimagnetic; it is attracted to a magnet and can be magnetized to become a permanent magnet itself. With th ...

iron ore mine, named the Sino Iron Project.

Export

China, in 2008-09, was the main importer of Western Australian iron ore, having taken 64 percent, or A$21 billion in value. Japan was the second-most important market with 21 percent, followed by

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

with 10 percent and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

with 3. In comparison,

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

is a small market for ore from the state, having taken only one percent of the overall production in 2008-09.

Criticism

The iron ore mining boom in Western Australia experienced since the early 2000s has not exclusively been seen as positive. Communities in the Pilbara region have seen a large influx of residential and

Fly-in fly-out Fly-in fly-out is a method of employing people in remote areas by flying them temporarily to the work site instead of relocating employees and their families permanently. It is often abbreviated to FIFO when referring to employment status. This is ...

workers which has seen land prices skyrocket and has negatively affected tourism as accommodation has become sparse.New Australia Mining Boom Taking Toll on Outback Life - Page 1
'' National Geographic'', published: 26 September 2007, accessed: 6 December 2010New Australia Mining Boom Taking Toll on Outback Life - Page 2
'' National Geographic'', published: 26 September 2007, accessed: 6 December 2010

Aboriginal communities

Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait I ...

culture in the region is deeply connected to the land and water and the mining activities threaten the fragile desert environment of the Pilbara. Locals in the Pilbara argue that the wealth generated by the local mining industry is passing them by and they are left behind. A lack of accommodation and the unattractive nature of relocating to the "dusty outback" resulted in a majority work force of fly-in fly-out workers, depriving local towns of the benefits of a high-earning permanent population. Mining companies in Australia have, since 1992, changed their attitude towards the local Aboriginal population. In 1992, the

began to recognise the land rights of the

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

, opening an opportunity for the latter to engage in negotiations with mining companies to press for compensation and for assistance in preserving cultural artifacts. However, some Aboriginals feel short-changed, given the enormous profits made from mining, and also consider the financial benefits and employment opportunities as insufficient compensation for the destruction caused to their habitat. Aboriginal mining companies have been able to secure contracts with the big international mining companies. In 2007, BHP Billiton awarded a A$300 million contract to Ngarda Civil and Mining, an Aboriginal-owned company, to manage the

Yarrie mine The Yarrie mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 90 kilometres north-east of Marble Bar. The mine is majority-owned (85 percent)Looking for opportunities
'' ABC North West WA'', published: 16 February 2010, accessed: 6 December 2010 As part of the five-year contract, BHP Billiton planned to increase the number of Aboriginal workers at the mine to 70, out of a total of 90 workers. The managing director of Ngarda, Brian Taylor, saw this contract as a positive step, moving Aboriginal people in the region away from government welfare and into permanent employment. Western Australian Aboriginals, in 2007, suffered from an unemployment rate of 14 percent in the state, compared to 3.3% for the general population. Of the 12,000 people employed by BHP Billiton in its Pilbara operations in 2010, 700 were indigenous. Rio Tinto also, as of 2010, employs 700 indigenous workers in its Pilbara operations, comprising 6 percent of its overall work force. FMG, under the leadership of

Andrew Forrest John Andrew Henry Forrest (born 18 November 1961), nicknamed Twiggy, is an Australian businessman. He is best known as the former CEO (and current non-executive chairman) of Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), and has other interests in the mining i ...

, is driving a national program which aims to find 50,000 jobs for indigenous workers in Australia. Companies like BHP, FMG and Rio Tinto have programs aimed at increasing the number of Aboriginal employees in their operations. Indigenous Australians in Western Australia in 2001 accounted for 3.1% of the population. Companies however lack an understanding of

Aboriginal culture Australian Aboriginal culture includes a number of practices and ceremonies centered on a belief in the Dreamtime and other mythology. Reverence and respect for the land and oral traditions are emphasised. Over 300 languages and other groupings ...

, which requires young men to be sent to the bush for up to six weeks to hunt and learn about their culture. Companies are often unwilling to award their indigenous employees this time off to be able to perform these important traditions.

Safety

Since the late 1960s, when the Department of Mines began categorising fatalities by commodity, until 2010, 86 work-related fatalities have occurred in the iron ore mining industry in Western Australia.Western Australian mining fatalities database
accessed: 19 February 2011

List of active mines

This is a list of major active iron ore mines in Western Australia in 2020–21, according to the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety. To qualify for the department's official list of principal mining projects an operation has to either had mineral sales valued at more than $5 million, or, for operations where such figures are not reported, had a minimum of 50 employees: * ¹ Majority-owner and operator shown only * ² Capacity is the production capacity of the mine, not actual annual production, and is in million tonnes of iron ore per annum * ³ Coordinates of the main processing facility

List of inactive and exhausted mines

This is a list of former iron ore mines in Western Australia:

Statistics

Western Australian Iron Ore Production chart 2000 to 2021

Annual statistics for the Western Australian iron ore mining industry:Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistics Digest 2020-21
Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety, accessed: 25 March 2022Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistics Digest 2001

, accessed: 10 December 2010

References

External links

Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety website

MINEDEX website
Database of the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety {{DEFAULTSORT:Iron Ore Mining in Western Australia Economy of Western Australia