Location | |
---|---|
Location | Pilbara |
State | Western Australia |
Country | Australia |
Coordinates | 21°10′52″S118°40′31″E / 21.181141°S 118.675201°E |
Production | |
Products | Iron ore fines, Lithium Direct Shipping Ore (DSO), and Spodumene Concentrate[ not verified in body ] |
Production | 6,057,086 tonnes |
Financial year | 2013-2014 (peak year) [1] |
History | |
Opened | 2017 |
Closed | 2019 (Care and Maintenance) |
Owner | |
Company | Mineral Resources Limited |
Website | MRL website |
Year of acquisition | 2017 |
The Wodgina mine is an exhausted iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 90 kilometres south of Port Hedland. [2]
The mine was operated by Atlas Iron Limited. The facilities and tenements are shared, by contract, with Global Advanced Metals.
Atlas purchased the iron ore rights for the Wodgina Project from Talison Minerals Pty Ltd, now known as Global Advanced Metals, in February 2008. [3]
The project was fast tracked by Atlas, going from the first drilling program to production in just over one and a half years. The company was aided by the ability to use the existing but dormant processing infrastructure of the tantalum mine owned by Talison (Global Advanced Metals) in the area. [3] At the time, the tantalum mine had been placed on care and maintenance by Global Advanced Metals and in January 2011, the company announced that it would restart tantalum production. [4] Less than a year after it reopened, due to softening global demand, tantalum mining operations ceased at the end of February 2012. [5]
In July 2010, Atlas commenced production at the Wodgina mine. The company planned to lift production from its Pilbara operations to 20 million tonnes of iron ore by 2012, up from 6.5 million tonnes in late 2010. Of this, 10 million tonnes were expected to come from the new Turner River hub, which was to blend and process ore from the company's northern Pilbara projects, located at Wodgina, Abydos and Mt Webber. [6]
Atlas was hopeful to come to terms with BHP Billiton for the use of that company's rail infrastructure, the Goldsworthy railway. BHP, in late 2010, had agreed to a joint feasibility study into how an arrangement might work. [7]
Mining at Wodgina ceased on 5 April 2017 when reserves were exhausted. [8]
Talison Minerals Pty Ltd was a mining company based in Australia. It was split into Talison Lithium and Talison Tantalum, now known as Global Advanced Metals, in 2009. The two largest mining operations of the company were the Greenbushes mine near Greenbushes, Western Australia and Wodgina, Pilbara Region, Western Australia.
The Fortescue railway, owned and operated by Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), is a private rail network in the Pilbara region of Western Australia built to carry iron ore. It opened in 2008. When it was completed, it was the heaviest haul railway in the world, designed for 40 tonne axle loads, 2.5 to 5 tonnes heavier than the other Pilbara iron ore rail systems. On 4 November 2014, FMG Rail commenced trialling 42-tonne axle loads.
The Cloudbreak mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 89 kilometres west-south-west of Nullagine, in the Chichester Range.
The Channar mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 17 kilometres south-east of Paraburdoo.
The West Angelas mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 110 kilometres North West of Newman.
The Mount Whaleback mine, officially the Newman West operation, is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, six kilometres west of Newman.
The Christmas Creek mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 61 kilometres south-south-west of Nullagine, in the Chichester Range.
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 Pardoo mine was an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 75 kilometres east of Port Hedland.
The Yarrie mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 90 kilometres north-east of Marble Bar.
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.
The Iron Valley mine is a small iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 75 kilometres (47 mi) northwest of Newman, 270 kilometres (170 mi) south of Port Hedland, and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) east of the Yandicoogina mine.
Australia has one of the biggest lithium reserves and is the biggest producer of lithium by weight, with most of its production coming from mines in Western Australia. Most Australian lithium is produced from hard-rock spodumene, in contrast to other major producers like Argentina, Chile and China, which produce it mainly from salt lakes.
The Mt Webber mine is an iron ore mine operated by Atlas Iron and located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 230 kilometres (140 mi) from Port Hedland, to where the ore is transported. Mt Webber, opened in 2014, is the company's primary operation.
The Sanjiv Ridge mine, formerly the Corunna Downs mine is an iron ore mine operated by Atlas Iron and located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 33 kilometres (21 mi) south of Marble Bar and 240 kilometres (150 mi) from Port Hedland. Ore from the mine is transported overland via road train to the Utah Point Bulk Commodities Berth at Port Hedland.
The Miralga Creek mine is an iron ore mine operated by Atlas Iron and located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 100 kilometres (62 mi) south-east from Port Hedland. Ore from the mine is transported overland via road train to the Utah Point Bulk Commodities Berth at Port Hedland.
The Roy Hill railway, officially the Roy Hill Infrastructure railway, owned and operated by Hancock Prospecting, is a private rail network in the Pilbara region of Western Australia built to carry iron ore.
Worldwide softening tantalum demand and delays in receiving Governmental approval for installation of necessary crushing equipment are among contributing factors in this decision