The Orebodies 18, 23 and 25 mine, part of BHP's Eastern Ridge hub and officially referred to as the Newman East operation, is an

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 ...

mine located in 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 glo ...

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 ...

, 8 kilometres east of Newman. The mine is majority-owned (85 percent)BHP Billiton Annual report 2010
BHP Billiton website, accessed: 6 December 2010 and operated by

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 ...

, and is one of seven iron ore mines the company operates in the Pilbara. The company also operates two port facilities at

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 Ham ...

, Nelson Point and Finucane Island, and over 1,000 kilometres of rail in the Pilbara. BHP is the second-largest iron ore mining company in the Pilbara, behind

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, a ...

and ahead of

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 ...

.Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistic Digest 2009

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: 6 December 2010 As of 2010, BHP employs 8,000 people in its Pilbara operations.About BHP Billiton Iron Ore
BHP Billiton website, accessed: 6 December 2010 On 25 February 2014

Macmahon Holdings Macmahon Holdings Limited was founded by Brian Macmahon, an Adelaide, South Australia, Adelaide civil engineer, in 1963. It is based in Perth, Western Australia, with offices in Queensland, South Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia. The company ...

announced that the operations at Orebody 18 would be run by BHP Billiton, completing the transition to owner-operator for all BHP iron ore mine sites in Western Australia.

Overview

The first iron ore mine to be developed in the Pilbara was 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 ...

in 1965. It was supported by a 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. On 1 June 1966, the first shipment of iron ore left the Pilbara on board the ''Harvey S. Mudd''.History of the Iron Ore Industry and the Pilbara
BHP Billiton website, accessed: 6 December 2010 At Orebody 25, BHP operates a processing plant consisting of a primary and secondary crusher, and a screening plant. BHP does not report the annual production of the mine separately, but rather together with its other Newman operations which, in 2009-10, produced a combined 37 million tonnes of ore.

References

{{Iron ore mining in Western Australia Iron ore mines in Western Australia Surface mines in Australia BHP Hamersley Range Itochu Shire of East Pilbara