Yandi mine

For the nearby Rio Tinto mine, see Yandicoogina mine.

Yandi mine

Yandi mine from the air in October 2021
Yandi mine Location in Western Australia
Location
Location	Shire of East Pilbara
State	Western Australia
Country	Australia
Coordinates	22°44′01″S119°07′06″E / 22.733650°S 119.118202°E / -22.733650; 119.118202
Production
Products	Iron ore
Production	68 million tonnes
Financial year	2021
History
Opened	1991
Owner
Company	BHP (85%) Itochu (8%) Mitsui Iron (7%)
Website	www.bhp.com

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 mine is owned by BHP (85%), Itochu (8%) and Mitsui Iron (7%). ^[1] In 2021, the mine commenced its end-of-life winding down with the South Flank mine scheduled to replace it. ^[2] However with demand from Asian steel mills for its iron ore with low levels of impurities, it was granted an extension, albeit with a reduced output. ^[3]

Overview

Iron ore mines in the Pilbara region

Operations at Yandi commenced in 1991, with the first ore shipment taking place in 1992. ^[4] The plant was upgraded from 1994 to 2003 to its current capacity of 41 million tonnes annually. The mine consists of three processing plants and two train loading facilities.

Mining operations within BHP throughout the Pilbara were briefly suspended in September 2008 to focus on safety after two fatalities at the Yandi mine within 10 days of each other. ^{[5] [6]}

From its opening, the mine was operated by HWE Mining. ^{[7] [8] [9]} In September 2011, BHP Billiton brought operations in house. ^{[10] [11]}

References

1. Itochu and Mitsui Acquire Interests in BHP Iron Ore Jimblebar Itochu 21 June 2013
2. Annual Report 2021 BHP
3. BHP breakthrough extends iron ore mine life Australian Financial Review 18 October 2021
4. Yandi at a glance BHP
5. BHP suspends WA iron works after second mining death The Australian 5 September 2008
6. $230,000 fine over BHP mine death The West Australian 25 October 2013
7. Henry Walker rides the contract wave Australian Financial Review 21 October 1996
8. Agreement reached on Yandi mining contract extension Henry Walker Eltin 25 August 2000
9. HWE wins $600m contract for Yandi extension Australian Mining 22 November 2007
10. Leighton flags potential sale of Pilbara iron ore business to BHP Billiton Leighton Holdings 9 August 2011
11. Completion of the Acquisition of HWE Mining Subsidiaries BHP 30 September 2011