Christmas Creek Mine
| Christmas Creek Mine | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| General information about the mine | |||
| Mining technology | Open pit | ||
| Funding / total | 16 million t | ||
| Information about the mining company | |||
| Operating company | Fortescue Metals Group | ||
| Start of operation | 2009 | ||
| Funded raw materials | |||
| Degradation of | Iron ore | ||
| Geographical location | |||
| Coordinates | 22 ° 22 '45.9 " S , 119 ° 50' 58.5" O | ||
|
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| local community | Nullagine | ||
| State | Western Australia | ||
| Country | Australia | ||
The Christmas Creek Mine is an iron ore mine in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia , 61 kilometers southwest of Nullagine in the Chichester Range .
The mine is owned by Fortescue Metals Group and is one of two ore mines the company operates in the Pilbara region adjacent to the Cloud Break Mine , which is 50 kilometers west of Christmas Creek.
Fortescue is the third largest company in the Pilbara, after the Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton .
Construction and operation
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Mining in the Pilbara region. The red point marks the location of the mine. |
Fortescue built for the mines Cloudbreak and Christmas Creek since 2003 apartments, and they began the construction of port facilities at Port Hedland in February 2006 after its capital on AUD had topped 3.2 billion in August 2006 to finance the project . Construction of the Cloud Break Mine began in October 2006 and ore mining began in October 2007. Iron ore production at the mine began in 2008 and 28 million tons of iron ore were produced in the first year of operation.
The ore from the mine is further processed there. First it is loaded onto trucks, transported to the Cloud Break Mine and from there to the coast of Port Hedland by the Fortescue Railway and then loaded onto ships. The construction of a 280 kilometer long railway line from the Cloud Break Mine to the Herb Elliott Port near Port Hedland began in November 2006 and went into operation after 18 months. A cyclone killed two workers on the project in March 2007 and delayed commissioning. The first train from the mine reached the port on April 5, 2008. A 50 km rail link, which opened in December 2010, runs from the Christmas Creek Mine to the Cloud Break Mine and enables uninterrupted transport to the port; Fortescue is planning further improvements to the rail connection.
The mine workers are flown in on a bi-weekly rotation.
Fortescue originally planned to increase production at the Cloud Break Mine from $ 220 million to 55 million tons by upgrading production facilities, but the venture was abandoned in October 2009 due to differences with Chinese investors. Instead, Fortescue decided to develop the Christmas Creek deposit for US $ 360 million with a mine and production facility and to connect it to the existing rail network. The Christmas Creek Mine was able to produce 16 million tons of iron ore in its first year of operation. Fortescue intends to produce 95 million tons annually from its mines in 2012, instead of the 120 million originally planned.
The Christmas Creek Mine first transported iron ore by truck until June 2009 for further processing to the Cloud Break Mine . Construction of the ore processing plant began in November 2009 and should be completed after 13 months and start operations in February 2011.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ MINEDEX website: Christmas Creek search result , accessed November 6, 2010
- ↑ a b Mining ( Memento of the original from November 9, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Fortescue website, accessed November 9, 2010
- ↑ a b Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistic Digest 2009 (PDF; 4.3 MB) Department of Mines and Petroleum website, accessed November 8, 2010
- ↑ a b History ( Memento of the original from December 8, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Fortescue website, accessed November 9, 2010
- ↑ Work begins on Cloud Break mine ABC News , October 24, 2006, accessed November 9, 2010
- ^ Fortescue opens the world's heaviest haul railway Railway Gazette International , July 14, 2008, accessed November 6, 2010
- ^ Railway Gazette: Heavy haul expansion plan approved . Retrieved February 13, 2011.
- ^ Sucked in The Australian , April 4, 2008, accessed November 9, 2010
- ^ "Fortescue Metals Group's China funding flops" The Australian , October 13, 2010, accessed November 9, 2010
- ↑ Fortescue to spend $ 360m at Christmas Creek mine to up output The Australian , October 12, 2009, accessed November 9, 2010
- ^ Fortescue shares up on FY profit jump The Sydney Morning Herald , August 26, 2010, accessed November 9, 2010
- ↑ Ore dip fails to slow Fortescue progress The Age , October 15, 2010, accessed November 9, 2010
