Turee syncline

The Turee Syncline iron ore project is located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, about 15 kilometres north east of Paraburdoo and south of Hamersley Iron's Pilbara railway network and the road linking Tom Price to Paraburdoo. The Karijini National Park lies to the immediate east of the project site.

Turee Syncline Development First Proposed by Hamersley Iron

The development of the Turee Syncline has been proposed by Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd, a fully owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto Iron Ore. Hamersley Iron was incorporated in 1962 to operate Rio Tinto's Pilbara based iron ore mines that include; Mount Tom Price, Yandicoogina, Paraburdoo, Brockman and Marandoo. The combined operations of Hamersley Iron and the Robe River iron ore mines, as well as the operations of Pilbara Rail and Pilbara Iron , now operate under the one name of, Rio Tinto Iron Ore.

Turee Syncline Development will add 10 Million Tonnes of Iron Ore to Rio Tinto's Pilbara Production Annually

The development of the Turee Syncline iron ore project will involve the building and operation of a greenfield iron ore mining operation, that would be capable of producing up to10 million tonnes of dry iron ore a year from the Turee deposit, for a period of around 16 years.

Turee Syncline Deposit to be Developed as Open Pits

Mining the Turee deposit would be undertaken as open pit operations above the water table and along a strike length of eight kilometres, with approximately 2,245 hectares of land needing to be disturbed to allow for the pits to be constructed, including land required for support infrastructure construction. The mining activity will consist of the traditional drilling, blasting and hauling type of operation. The major components of the project include the following; water supply infrastructure; road infrastructure, which includes internal roads as well as mine access roads; extension of the powerline from Paraburdoo; either the construction of a conveyor system, or an extension to the existing railway; an accommodation camp, wastewater treatment plant, storage for explosives, workshops and offices; ore processing and handling facilities; stockpiles and waste rock dumps; above the water table open cut mining pits.

Turee Syncline Development to be a Long Term Production Project

Rio Tinto Iron is planning to meet future demand for iron ore from China and to do this it will also have to increase its port throughput capacity to allow it to cater for future expansion of existing mining operations, as well as the development of new iron ore mines, such as the Turee Syncline.

It is expected the Turee Syncline project will attract a residential, as well as a fly-in-fly-out workforce, as nearby Paraburdoo was established by Rio Tinto in 1970, to service its Paraburdoo iron ore mine, that is situated just five kilometres from the town centre. Paraburdoo is one of the biggest urban settlements within the local municipal area of Ashburton and it already has its own airport.