Mine Details
Mining area c
http://ironore.bhpbilliton.com
iron-oreVillage Accommodation, FiFo
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WA,
State: WA,
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Mining Area C is a BHP Billiton open cut iron ore mine 92 kilometres from Newman in the Western Australia Pilbara region. It consists of 30 iron ore deposits and is one of seven other iron ore mines BHP Billiton operate in the same region. It is regarded as part of the Mount Goldsworthy Joint Venture that includes; BHP Billiton, Mitsui and Company Limited , Itochu Corporation and Iluka Resources. Iluka Resources interests being in the form of 'life-of-deposit' royalties owing on certain tenements resulting from the 1994 restructure of deferred payments owed to Consolidated Goldfields, an antecedent company of Iluka's, that originally had a one third interest in the Mount Goldsworthy venture.
Iron Ore From the Mining Area C Mine is Exported From Finucane Island Port Hedland
Ore taken from the Mining Area C open cut mine is processed by means of a primary crusher before being taken by conveyor to the concentrator that has a capacity to handle 45 million tonnes of iron ore each year. It is then taken by the company's Mount Newman Railway to its port facility at Port Hedland where it finally finishes up at the BHP Billiton export facility on Finucane Island. At the end of the 2009/2010 financial year the mine had a proven resource of 650 million tonnes at a grade of almost 62 percent and over two and a half billion tonnes graded at just over 60 percent.
Mine to be 100 Percent Owner Operated
BHP Billiton has a goal of becoming a 100 percent owner operator of its iron ore mining operation at Mining Area C and to this end acquired Leighton Holdings' HWE Mining Subsidiaries in September, 2011. HWE Mining Subsidiaries had, at that time, been providing contract mining equipment and like assets to Mining Area C and the nearby Yandi mine.
The Mining Area C iron ore mine activities include drilling, blasting, loading, hauling, processing, train loading, maintenance and infrastructure management. The mine is managed on the basis of 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year operation. There are 650 employees at the BHP Billiton Pilbara mines who processed over 45 million tonnes in 2011.
Workers Looked After With Modern Amenities
Workers at the Mining Area C mine live in the mining site village when on roster . They are flown into work and flown out again when their shift is finished. While at the mine they have full use of all facilities that include a well equipped gymnasium, wet mess, shop, indoor cricket, volley ball, tennis and a walking and running track. Food supplied is of a high standard.
A Close Relationship with Indigenous Landowners
Mining Area C has a close relationship with the indigenous land owners of the area, the Martu Idja Banyjima and Innawonga Bunjima Niapaili people. Native Title agreements with these two peoples guarantees the traditional owners will share in the benefits that are derived from the operation. This was particularly obvious during the mine construction period when five percent of the contract workforce were indigenous. The company has a goal of raising this percentage to 12 percent.
The annual capacity of the company's iron ore production from the Pilbara region was 178 million tonnes at the end of 2011 and with the development of another deposit, the Orebody 24 mine, this figure will again be exceeded. This new development is expected to increase production by a further 17 million tonnes a year, bringing the company's total Australian iron ore production to 350 million tonnes a year.
