Eastern range

The Eastern Range iron ore open pit mine is owned and operated by Hamersley Iron Pty. Ltd., a fully owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto Iron Ore, which in turn is owned by global mining company Rio Tinto, in joint venture arrangements with Chinese company Shanghai Baosteel Group Corporation.

The Eastern Range Mine is Situated in the Mineral Rich Hamersley Range
The mine is located in the mineral rich Hamersley Range, 10 kilometres from Paraburdoo, an area that contains 80 percent of all identified iron ore deposits in Australia, which makes it one of the major iron ore provinces in the world. In 2009 the Pilbara Region produced about 13 percent of the world's iron ore requirements of 1.59 billion tonnes.

Eastern Range Mine Began Production in 2004
Rio Tinto began iron ore production in the Pilbara in 1966 and commenced mining at the Eastern Range Mine in 2004. The addition of the Eastern Range contribution to Rio Tinto's other two mines in the same area, the Channar and Paraburdoo mines, brought their total production to 20 million tonnes of iron ore a year. The ore produced at Eastern Range being primarily crushed on site before being transported to Paraburdoo by conveyor belt where it is processed again before being loaded into railway wagons to the transported to the port at Dampier via the Hamersley and Robe River Railway. Once the ore reaches Dampier it is screened again before being blended with ore from other Rio Tinto Pilbara mines to become part of the Rio Tinto Pilbara blend.

Shangai Baosteel Invest in Eastern Range Mine to Ensure Supply for the Chinese Economy
Chinese joint venture partner, Shangai Baosteel, became partners in the Eastern Range Mine when it purchased 46 percent of the shareholding in April 2004. It did this to secure for itself a stable supply of iron ore for the growing Chinese economy. Rio Tinto, through its fully owned subsidiary, Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd, purchased the remaining 54 percent interest in the venture. Hamersley Iron fully owns six other iron ore mines in the Pilbara and is in partnership in two other mines including the Eastern Range Mine. A considerable ore body was known to exist at the Eastern Range Brockman Bedded Iron Deposit for more than 20 years and it finally became economical to develop when China emerged as a major steel producer and overseas investors were looking around for stable investments.

Rio Tinto Plans to Increase Total Pilbara Iron Ore Production to 360 Million Tonnes by 2015
Rio Tinto iron ore production in the Pilbara is currently running at about 237 million tonnes a year with plans to increase this amount to 290 million tonnes by 2013 and eventually to 360 million tonnes a year by 2015. It is currently operating 14 mines throughout the Pilbara, the largest railway network in Australia that is privately owned and three shipping terminals.

Workers at the Eastern Range mine are housed in the mining town of Paraburdoo as are workers from other nearby mines such as Channar and Paraburdoo, which, in 2009, housed over 1,000 employees and their families.