List of iron ore mines in Australia

Last updated

This list of iron ore mines in Australia is subsidiary to the list of mines article and lists working, defunct and planned mines in the country organised by state.

Contents

Western Australia

Pilbara

MineAlternative namesMajority OwnerStatus1st Production YearOutput (mtpa)!
Area C mine Mining Area C (MAC Mine) BHP [1] Producing200155
Balmoral South Australasian Resources Deposit-0
Brockman 4 mine Rio TintoProducing201022
Brockman 2 mine Brockman mine Rio TintoProducing19928.7
Channar mine Rio TintoProducing20
Christmas Creek mine Fortescue Metals GroupProducing50
Cloud Break mine Fortescue Metals GroupProducing40
Cockatoo Island Pluton Resources (under administration) [2] Not producing0
Eastern Ridge mine Orebody 23/25, Newman EastBHP
Hope Downs mine Rio Tinto / Hancock Prospecting [3] Producing
Iron Valley mine Mineral Resources Ltd [4] Producing6
Jimblebar mine Orebody 18 mineBHPProducing2013 [5]
Karara mine Karara MiningProducing2013 [6] 8
Marandoo mine Rio TintoProducing199415
Mesa A mine Waramboo mine, Mesa J mine (part of Mesa A) Rio Tinto [7] Producing1992
Mt Tom Price mine Rio TintoProducing196628
Mt. Whaleback mine BHPProducing1968
Nammuldi mine Rio TintoProducing20066.6
Paraburdoo mine Rio TintoProducing197220
Pardoo mine Atlas Iron LtdProducing20082.4
Roy Hill Hancock Prospecting [8] Producing2014
Shay Gap Mount Goldsworthy Mining AssociatesClosed in 19931973
Solomon hub mine Fortescue Metals Group [9] Producing201372
South Flank mine BHP [10] Under construction in 2020
West Angelas mine Rio TintoProducing200235
Wodgina mine Atlas Iron LtdExhausted in 201720100
Yandicoogina mine Rio TintoProducing199852
Yandi mine BHPProducing199179
Yarrie mine Goldsworthy BHPSuspended in 201419930

Esperance Port

MineAlternative namesMajority OwnerStatus1st Production YearOutput (mtpa)
Koolyanobbing, Western Australia Cliffs Natural Resources Limited
Mt. Jackson Cliffs Natural Resources Limited
Yilgarn Iron Producers Association

Geraldton / Mid West

MineAlternative namesMajority OwnerStatus1st Production YearYear ceasedOutput (mtpa)
Extension Hill/Iron HillMount Gibson IronReworking stockpiles20112019
Karara mine Karara MiningProducing2013 [6] -8
Tallering PeakMount Gibson IronClosed200320140

Offshore islands

South Australia

Northern Territory

Proposed

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BHP</span> Australian multinational mining and petroleum company

BHP Group Limited is an Australian multinational mining and metals public company headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whyalla</span> City in South Australia

Whyalla is a city in South Australia. It was founded as "Hummocks Hill", and was known by that name until 1916. It is the fourth most populous city in the Australian state of South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Gawler and along with Port Pirie and Port Augusta is one of the three towns to make up the Iron Triangle. As of June 2018, Whyalla had an urban population of 21,742, having declined at an average annual rate of -0.75% year-over-year over the preceding five years. It is a seaport located on the east coast of the Eyre Peninsula and is known as the "Steel City" due to its integrated steelworks and shipbuilding heritage. The port of Whyalla has been exporting iron ore since 1903.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eyre Peninsula</span> Place in South Australia

The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iron Knob</span> Iron ore mine in South Australia

Iron Knob is a town in the Australian state of South Australia on the Eyre Peninsula immediately south of the Eyre Highway. At the 2006 census, Iron Knob and the surrounding area had a population of 199. The town obtained its name from its proximity to large deposits of iron ore, most notably Iron Monarch which outcropped prominently from the relatively flat, surrounding landscape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cockatoo Island (Western Australia)</span> Island in the Kiimberley region of Western Australia

Cockatoo Island is an island in the Buccaneer Archipelago off the coast of Western Australia near the town of Derby. It was mined for iron ore by the Broken Hill Proprietary Company from 1951 until 1984. Koolan Island is a neighbouring island that was also mined by BHP for high grade iron ore. It was most recently mined by Perth-based mining company, Pluton Resources until the company was placed under administration in September 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koolan Island</span> Island of Western Australia

Koolan Island is an island off the Kimberley coast of Western Australia in the Buccaneer Archipelago. It is about 1,900 km north of Perth, and about 130 km (81 mi) north of Derby. It hosts deposits of high-grade iron ore.

Arrium was an Australian mining and materials company, employing nearly 10,000 workers, that went into voluntary administration in 2016 with debts of more than $2 billion. In 2017 it was acquired by British-owned Liberty House Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Bonython</span> Suburb of City of Whyalla, South Australia

Port Bonython is the location of a deepwater port, gas fractionation plant and diesel storage facility west of Point Lowly in the Upper Spencer Gulf region of South Australia. It lies 16 km east-northeast of Whyalla, South Australia and approximately 370 km north-west of the State's capital city, Adelaide. The existing wharf is 2.4 kilometres long and is capable of berthing small Capesize ships with a maximum capacity of 110,000 tonnes. The wharf was established in 1982 and named after John Bonython, the founding chairman of Santos. The structure is leased to Santos by the Government of South Australia and is used for the export of hydrocarbon products. An oil spill at Port Bonython in 1992 resulted in loss of bird life and damage to mangrove habitats to the west and southwest of Port Pirie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whyalla Steelworks</span>

The Whyalla Steelworks is a fully integrated steelworks and the only manufacturer of rail in Australia. Iron ore is mined in the Middleback Range to feed the steelworks, resulting in the distribution of finished steel products of over 90 different grades. It occupies a 1,000 ha site on the shore of False Bay, Spencer Gulf and is the largest employer in Whyalla, South Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iron ore mining in Western Australia</span> Mining in Western Australia

Iron ore mining in Western Australia, in the 2018–19 financial year, accounted for 54 percent of the total value of the state's resource production, with a value of A$78.2 billion. The overall value of the minerals and petroleum industry in Western Australia was A$145 billion in 2018–19, a 26 percent increase on the previous financial year.

The Area C mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 92 kilometres west-north-west of Newman.

The Jimblebar mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 41 kilometres east of Newman.

The Yarrie mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 90 kilometres north-east of Marble Bar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yandi mine</span> Iron ore mine in Western Australia

The Yandi mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 90 kilometres north-west of Newman. It should not be confused with Rio Tinto's nearby Yandicoogina mine, which is also sometimes shortened to Yandi.

The Orebodies 18, 23 and 25 mine, part of BHP's Eastern Ridge hub and officially referred to as the Newman East operation, is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 8 kilometres east of Newman. The mine is majority-owned and operated by BHP, and is one of seven iron ore mines the company operates in the Pilbara. The company also operates two port facilities at Port Hedland, Nelson Point and Finucane Island, and over 1,000 kilometres of rail in the Pilbara.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy</span>

The South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy (SACOME) is a not-for-profit, non-government organisation founded in 1979. It represents approximately 130 companies involved in resource extraction and supporting service industries in South Australia.

Save Point Lowly is a community action group based in Whyalla, South Australia. The group was formed circa 2008 to present an alternative vision for the future of the Point Lowly area north-west of Whyalla and resist plans for heavy industrialization. The group aspired to raising the profile of the Point Lowly area, including the giant Australian cuttlefish aggregation, which the group believes is under threat from a number of industrial proposals including: a seawater desalination plant for BHP Billiton's Olympic Dam mine, a diesel distribution hub, a technical ammonium nitrate plant and an iron ore export facility. Collectively these development have been referred to by the Government of South Australia as the Port Bonython Minerals Precinct. The group's spokesperson and chairman is Andrew Melville-Smith who is a practising veterinarian and resident of Whyalla.

The Middleback Range is a mountain range on the eastern side of Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. The Middleback Range has been a source of iron ore for over a century, particularly to feed the Whyalla Steelworks. Mines in the region were first developed by BHP from the 1890s and are now owned and operated by Liberty House Group.

Cu-River Mining Pty. Ltd. is a privately-owned Australian resources company with interests in iron ore mining and port development projects in South Australia. It is the smaller of two iron ore exporters operating in the state, the larger being the GFG Alliance. The company is owned by Adelaide-based businessman, Yong Gang Shan and as of 2019 its only producing asset was the Cairn Hill mine in the state's Far North. The company has contracted mining, processing and freight logistics services to Agile Mining Services and Lucas Total Contract Solutions

The BHP Whyalla Tramway is a 1067 mm gauge heavy-haul railway, 112 kilometres long, on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. It runs from haematite mines at Iron Monarch, Iron Baron and Iron Duke in the Middleback Range, about 50 kilometres west of Whyalla, to company steelworks at the coastal city of Whyalla. Opened in 1901, it was built by, and until 2000 operated by, the Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP). As of 2021 it was owned by Liberty House Group and operated on its behalf by rail operator One Rail Australia, which was sold in 2022 to Aurizon.

References

  1. "BHP Billiton's Area C Mine Officially Opened". BHP. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  2. "Summary of Pluton Resources Ltd (Receiver and Manager Appointed) | The Supreme Court of Victoria". www.supremecourt.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  3. "Hope Downs Mine: an iron ore mine in Pilbara region, Western Australia". Mining Technology | Mining News and Views Updated Daily. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  4. "Iron Valley - BCI Minerals". www.bciminerals.com.au. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  5. "BHP Billiton Opens Jimblebar Iron Ore Mine". BHP. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  6. 1 2 "Karara Mining". www.kararamining.com.au. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  7. "Mesa A | Metalight". www.metalight.com.au. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  8. "Ownership | Roy Hill". www.royhill.com.au. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  9. "Solomon Hub Iron Ore Mine". Mining Technology | Mining News and Views Updated Daily. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  10. Cooper, Michael (4 March 2020). "BHP South Flank: A mine for the future". The Australian Mining Review. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  11. Valerina Changarathil (23 January 2015). "Arrium to mothball Southern Iron operations that include Peculiar Knob mine in SA, flags $1.3bn writedown due to iron ore prices". The Advertiser. News Corp. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  12. "ABC Rural - ABC News". www.abc.net.au.