Mining and Processing
Reclaimer
BHP Billiton Iron Ore has seven extensive high-grade iron ore mining operations in the Pilbara, with a number of these located near the town of Newman.
The massive Mt Whaleback mine, established in 1968, is the biggest single-pit open-cut iron ore mine in the world being more than five kilometres long and nearly 1.5 kilometres wide. Adjacent are smaller deposits, Orebodies 29, 30 and 35.
Smaller satellite mines – Jimblebar and Orebodies 18, 23 and 25 – are located outside the town of Newman. The Yandi and Area C mines are located about 100 kilometres north-west of Newman. The Yarrie mine is 200 kilometres east of Port Hedland.
From these operations BHP Billiton Iron Ore produces eight unique products – Yandi Lump and Fines, Newman Lump and Fines, Yarrie Lump and Fines and MAC (Mining Area C) Lump and Fines.
The Company uses the open-cut method of mining, which involves drilling holes into the pit floor and inserting explosives to break up the solid rock. Blasting takes place four or five times a week, depending on production requirements.
Mt Whaleback ore is exceptionally high grade, containing up to 68 per cent iron. After blasting, excavators scoop up to 70 tonnes of iron ore and load it into haul trucks - which can carry as much as 240 tonnes - to be transported to the primary crusher. The crusher breaks down boulders of up to 1.5 metres in diameter into lumps about the size of a football. It is then transferred to a secondary crusher, where it is broken down into grapefruit-sized lumps.
From there, it is sent to stockpiles ready for loading on to trains, up to a rate of 14,000 tonnes per hour. Waste rock from the mine, which is low in iron content, is retained for use in rehabilitation.
A beneficiation plant was built at Mt Whaleback in 1979 to retrieve the high grade from the contact waste, providing an additional 8Mtpa for sale.
BHP Billiton Iron Ore has a long and sustainable future in Western Australia, with reserves for at least another 30 years and additional resources for future development.
