Pardoo

The Pardoo (Atlas) Mine is located 75 kilometres east of Port Hedland in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is 100 percent operated and owned by Atlas Iron Limited, a producer, developer and explorer of iron ore in the Pilbara.

Pardoo (Atlas) Mine Began Producing Iron Ore in 2008
The Pardoo (Atlas) Mine began producing iron ore in 2008, the midst of
the Global Financial Crisis, that caused a downturn in the mining industry and made it difficult for Atlas to sell its product on the spot market. Sheer determination, however, saw the new emerging iron ore producer finally get a foothold in the market and by the second half of 2009 its books were starting to look good as a result of substantial increases in revenue.

Ore Crushed and Screened Onsite at Pardoo (Atlas) Mine
Atlas crushes and screens its Pardoo iron ore production on site before hauling it by road train the 75 kilometres to Port Hedland for it to be exported to the company's overseas customers. Pardoo (Atlas) is an open pit mining operation and despite entering the market during one of the worlds worst economic downturns since the great depression of the 1930's, still managed to produce 1.08 million tonnes of iron ore in its first year of operation. It is now producing 2.4 million tonnes of iron ore each year.

Increased Production at Pardoo (Atlas) Mine Hampered by Lack of Railway Infrastructure
Increased production from all Atlas's current Pilbara iron ore operations is handicapped to a degree by not being serviced by a railway system to facilitate getting the ore from the mine sites to Port Hedland. It is presently using expensive road transport which means any increase in production brings with it increases in road transport costs. It was hoped, at one stage, that an agreement could be reached with BHP Billiton so that Atlas could use its established Goldsworthy railway line but this has not proven to be feasible.

In order to pursue a cheaper alternative to trucking the ore to Port Hedland, an essential issue if the company succeeds in lifting its annual production to 15 million tonnes a year as planned, Atlas Iron Limited has formed an alliance with Brockman Resources, a neighbouring miner experiencing the same problem, and railway company Aurizon. This alliance has been busy studying the feasibility of developing a rail network, independent to that of BHP Billiton, to fully service the needs of East Pilbara miners in getting their production to Port Hedland for export.

Pardoo (Atlas) Produces High Quality Direct Shipping Ore
The Pardoo (Atlas) iron ore mine produces a low alumina quality direct shipping ore (DSO) from a number of open cut mines. All the ore produced is achieved by utilising a traditional backhoe and truck mining fleet. The ore is crushed and screened on site before being trucked to the port for shipment overseas. As at June 30, 2011, proven probable reserves at the Pardoo Mine totalled over five million tonnes grading at over 57 percent iron. The measured, indicated and inferred resource stood at over 18 million tonnes grading at more than 56 percent iron.
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