Oakajee Port is a proposed

deep water port 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 Ham ...

to be built in the Mid West region of

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 ...

, north of Geraldton, to service the region's growing

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

industry.

History

Between 1879 and 1957, Oakagee was a siding and locality on the

Northampton railway line The Northampton railway line ran from Geraldton through Northampton and on to Ajana in Western Australia. It operated between 1879 and 1957. It was the first government railway constructed in Western Australia. Opening Construction of the Ger ...

. The site was first considered as a port and railway terminus in the 1980s. Opposition to the project from local residents centred on environmental concerns, especially in relation to nearby Coronation Beach. Advocacy for the project was from a partnership known as Geraldton Iron Ore Alliance, which included miners Mount Gibson Iron, Midwest Corporation, Murchison Metals, Gindalbie Metals, Golden West Resources, Royal Resources, Asia Iron Holdings and Atlas Iron. An alternative project considered by the government was to deepen and enlarge the existing Geraldton Port. However, environmental factors associated with the proposal being relatively close to Geraldton militated against it. Including an associated rail project, the project was estimated to cost about $4 billion. The port was to have an initial capacity of 45 million tonnes of

annually. Construction was expected to start in 2011, with completion possible by 2014. In 2012, media speculation about cancellation of the project increased with announcements of delays and cutbacks. However, the premier of Western Australia, Colin Barnett, stated his desire to facilitate conciliation between the parties. In June 2013, Mitsubishi Corporation announced that work was to be suspended work until an investment partner could be found. the project was mothballed. In November 2019, Sinosteel purchased Mitsubishi's shareholding. In January 2022, Fortescue Metals Group announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Sinosteel to investigate the feasibility of reviving the project.

Location

The port and facilities were to be constructed within approximately of land owned by the state government. The property had been used as farmland but was zoned for heavy industrial and zoned for support industries. It is bordered approximately by the

Buller River The Buller River ( mi, Kawatiri) is a river in the South Island of New Zealand. One of the country's longest rivers, it flows for from Lake Rotoiti through the Buller Gorge and into the Tasman Sea near the town of Westport. Within the Bulle ...

to the south, Coronation Beach Road to the north, and the Moresby Ranges to the east.

Railway

The port was intended to be served by a 570 kilometre

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

railway line. To facilitate this

Brookfield Rail Arc Infrastructure (previously known as Brookfield Rail and WestNet Rail) is a transport infrastructure owner and access provider in Western Australia with a long-term lease on the network from the Government of Western Australia. It operates a ...

rebuilt part of the existing narrow gauge line with

dual gauge In railway engineering, "gauge" is the transverse distance between the inner surfaces of the heads of two rails, which for the vast majority of railway lines is the number of rails in place. However, it is sometimes necessary for track to c ...

sleepers ''Sleepers'' is a 1996 American legal crime drama film written, produced, and directed by Barry Levinson, and based on Lorenzo Carcaterra's 1995 book of the same name. The film stars Kevin Bacon, Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Dustin Ho ...

.Mixed fortunes for Western Australian rail projects
''

International Railway Journal The ''International Railway Journal'' (IRJ) is a monthly international trade magazine published by Simmons-Boardman Publishing in Falmouth, England. History Founded by Robert Lewis and ''Railway Age'' editor Luther Miller as the world's first ...

'' 16 November 2012

References

External links

Oakajee Port & Rail
{{coord, 28, 35, 22, S, 114, 35, 00, E, display=title Mid West (Western Australia) Ports and harbours of Western Australia Proposed transport infrastructure in Australia