Nammuldi

The Nammuldi iron ore mine in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia, 60 kilometres from Tom Price, is an open pit mine with on-site processing facilities that operates a fly-in-fly-out roster for its workers.

Nammuldi Commenced Mining in 2006
The Nammuldi Mine, that commenced mining in 2006, produces 6.6 million tonnes of lump and fines iron ore a year from its Marra Mamba
Bedded Iron Deposit that is mixed with other Rio Tinto ores to contribute to the Rio Tinto Pilbara Blend.

The Nammuldi Mine is the Second Rio Tinto Mine to Receive Automated Haulage Trucks
Rio Tinto has decided to have the Nammuldi Mine become the second Rio Tinto Mine to receive driverless trucks as part of its program to deploy the Autonomous Haulage Systems (AHS) at its Pilbara iron ore mines. Rio Tinto has stated that it intends to make the Nammuldi Mine the world's largest user of the AHS driver-less trucks, a move that will facilitate the company's growth across the region. The fully automated haulage trucks were first used at Rio Tinto's Junction South East Mine at Yandicoogina in April of 2012. Before that the company had been trialling the system with waste dump trucks at its West Angelas iron ore open pit mine for a period of 897 days. The company has ordered 150 autonomous haulage trucks from Japanese truck manufacturer Komatsu to be delivered over the next four years.

The fully automated driver-less trucks had been operated from the mine site during trials but as they become more established it is planned to operate them from the company's Perth office 1,500 kilometres to the south west of the Nammuldi Mine site. The automated haulage trucks utilise GPS technology to find their way around the mine site along a pre-defined course from where they are loaded to where they dump their contents, whether it be the crusher, stockpiles or the waste dump.

When the company's ìMine of the Futureî was launched in 2008 it only intended to use 10 driver-less trucks on the one site. The current plan is a 15 fold expansion on that originally proposed. Rio Tinto have decided that the new technology will revolutionise the way large scale mining is carried out in the future by creating high technology jobs, while at the same time reduce carbon emissions, create an improved environmental performance and improve safety at mine sites.

Multi Billion Dollar Expansion at the Nammuldi Mine
The Nammuldi Mine is also undergoing a multi billion dollar expansion that has been given West Australian Government approval. The expansion will create work for 1,500 construction workers that, when finished, will almost triple current production levels. The expansion will include the building of a new 130 megawatt power station at Cape Lambert from where Nammuldi iron ore is exported.

Mining services contracting company, NRW Holdings has been awarded a major contract to construct much of the expansion work as well as providing mine service facilities at the Nammuldi Mine. It has been contracted to complete bulk earthwork for the processing plant, the construction of an explosive compound and a stockyard. It will also undertake necessary road work and build a railway connection along with a train loading facility. NRW Holdings will need a peak workforce of 400 construction workers. The expansion will allow mining below the water table that will see it producing 23 million tonnes of iron ore a year into the future.

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