Mount Whaleback Mine
| Mount Whaleback Mine | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| General information about the mine | |||
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| Mining technology | Open pit | ||
| Information about the mining company | |||
| Operating company |
BHP Billiton (85%) Mitsui Iron (10%) Itochu Minerals (5%) |
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| Funded raw materials | |||
| Degradation of | Iron ore | ||
| Greatest depth | 500 m | ||
| Geographical location | |||
| Coordinates | 23 ° 21 '55.3 " S , 119 ° 40' 31.4" E | ||
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| Location | Mount Whaleback | ||
| local community | Newman | ||
| State | Western Australia | ||
| Country | Australia | ||
The Mount Whaleback Mine (German: Walückenberg Mine ) is an iron ore mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia , 6 kilometers west of Newman .
owner
The main shareholder of the mining company with 85% is BHP Billiton , which operates a further seven mines in the Pilbara region. BHP Billiton also operates two iron ore shipping facilities at Port Hedland , Nelson Point and Finucane Island, and over 1,000 kilometers of ore transportation lines.
BHP Billiton is the second largest iron ore mine operator in the Pilbara, after Rio Tinto , while Fortescue Metals Group is third. In 2010, BHP employed 8,000 people in iron ore production in the region.
history
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Mining in the Pilbara region. The red point marks the location of the mine. |
The iron ore deposit at Mount Whaleback was discovered by Stan Hilditch in 1957, but was not published until 1960 when the Australian government lifted the embargo imposed in 1938. The first iron ore mine to open was the Goldsworthy Mine in 1965. The iron ore produced was transported to the port facilities on Finucane Island on the Goldsworthy Railway and loaded onto ships. On June 1, 1966, the first shipload of Australian iron ore on board the Harvey S. Mudd left this port.
BHP's activities in Newman date back to 1968 when the Mount Whaleback Mine began mining. This mine is the largest open pit in the world, where iron ore is extracted. This process was developed by the US company Bechtel Pacific . The mine is 1.5 kilometers wide and more than five kilometers long with a mining depth of 500 meters. Near the mine, the new town of Newman was built and 426 kilometers of railroad tracks were laid, operated by the Mount Newman Railway . The first loaded train left Newman on January 1, 1969 and the first ship loaded with iron ore from this mine was the Osumi Maru , which departed on April 1, 1969. Newman remained a "closed" town of the mining company until 1981, when it has been under the administration of the East Pilbara Shire .
Mining operations
Ore from the mine is transported to Port Hedland by rail operated by two private companies . The Mount Newman Railway transports iron ore from Mount Whaleback and the iron ore bodies of Orebodies 18, 23 and 25 mines , Jimblebar Mine , Yandi mine and Area C Mine . The Yarrie Mine is served by the separate, shorter Goldsworthy Railway .
Ore from Mount Whaleback and other mines at Newman, as well as from the Yandi Mine , will be transported to Nelson Point and ore from the Area C Mine and Yarrie Mine will be transported to Finucane Island . The trains travel through a 1.16 kilometer tunnel to the port on Finucane Island . A ship loading takes an average of 30 hours and 800 ships can be loaded annually.
The mine can be visited in a 1.5 hour guided tour.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ MINEDEX website: MT Whaleback search result , accessed November 6, 2010.
- ↑ BHP Billiton Annual report 2010 BHP Billiton website, accessed November 10, 2010
- ↑ a b About BHP Billiton Iron Ore BHP Billiton website, accessed November 10, 2010
- ^ Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistic Digest 2009 (PDF; 4.3 MB) Department of Mines and Petroleum website, accessed November 8, 2010
- ↑ a b c Newman. In: The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved January 20, 2016 .
- ^ A b History of the Iron Ore Industry and the Pilbara BHP Billiton website, accessed November 10, 2010
- ^ Mining and Processing BHP Billiton website, accessed November 10, 2010
- ↑ Iron fact sheet - Australian Resources and Deposits ( Memento of the original from February 18, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Geoscience Australia website, accessed November 7, 2010
- ^ Rail BHP Billiton website, accessed November 10, 2010
- ↑ Ports BHP Billiton website, accessed November 10, 2010
- ↑ Attractions ( Memento of the original from April 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Newman website, accessed November 10, 2010
Web links
- BHP Billiton website
- MINEDEX website database of the Department of Mines and Petroleum