Project Iron Boomerang

Last updated

Proposed route of the railway at the heart of Project Iron Boomerang Route of proposed Iron Boomerang Project railway.png
Proposed route of the railway at the heart of Project Iron Boomerang

Project Iron Boomerang is a proposal, originated in 2006, to build a multi-user rail corridor spanning northern Australia and to facilitate placement of five steel-making plants at each end, owned and operated by steel mill companies. A key element of its projected feasibility was the elimination of inefficient, unproductive and environmentally damaging empty return train-loads. [1] [2] [3] The termini of the railway line were projected to be Newman, Western Australia and Abbot Point, Queensland, about 3000 km (1860 mi) apart. [3] [4]

Contents

The proponent is a private company, East West Line Parks Pty Ltd. [5] As of 2015, Shane Condon was stated as being the founder and managing director. [6]

An Australian Broadcastion Corporation report in 2011 stated that acquisition of land had begun. It also reported a Western Australian resources expert as saying the plan was extremely unlikely to succeed because Australia's "high wage, high dollar environment" made the cost of producing steel too high to develop a new project, and in the environment at that time it was hard to find a business case. [7]

In 2019, the company reported to a mining and metallurgy conference that pre-feasibility and project design phases had been completed; the initial aim of the next stage was to obtain commitment of engagement from at least three global steel companies before completing an environmental impact statement and obtaining government approvals. The company's schedule anticipated that design and construction of the railway would be completed, and steel production would commence, in 2025. [1]

In 2020, a news article outlined the project's potential economic feasibility and national benefits. [8]

In February 2022, a plan for an optical fibre cable system along the route of the railway, to be laid when the project started, was reported. [9] [ better source needed ] At the same time, the company's website stated that the three-year bankable approval stage would be reached by 2018 and the 31⁄2-year commissioning and construction stage would be complete by 2022. As of June 2022, however, no announcement had been made by the company to indicate that either event has occurred.

Parliament inquiry

On 5 September 2022, the Australian Senate passed a motion to establish an inquiry into the project. [10] The motion was sponsored by One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts. The project was referred to the Senate Standing Committees on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport. A report was due on 11 May 2023, but the deadline was extended, and the report was tabled on 10 August 2023.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pilbara Iron</span> Mining company

Pilbara Iron is a wholly owned subsidiary of the multinational Rio Tinto Group, that manages assets for Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto, and Robe River Iron Associates, an unincorporated joint venture between Rio and three Japanese steel companies Mitsui Iron Ore Development P/L (33%), Nippon Steel Australia P/L (10.5%) and Sumitomo Metal Australia P/L (3.5%).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adelaide–Darwin railway line</span> Railway line in Australia

The Adelaide–Darwin railway line is a railway line in Australia, between the South Australian town of Tarcoola and the Northern Territory city of Darwin. Preceded by a number of other shorter railways, a line through to Darwin was fully realised in 2004 when the final link from Alice Springs to Darwin was opened. Forming the main section of the 2,975 kilometres (1,849 mi) rail corridor between the cities of Adelaide and Darwin, the line is used by The Ghan passenger train and interstate freight trains operated by Aurizon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baowu</span> Chinese iron and steel company

China Baowu Steel Group Corp., Ltd., commonly known as Baowu, is a state-owned iron and steel company headquartered in the Baosteel Tower in Pudong, Shanghai, China. The company was formed by Baosteel Group absorbing its smaller state-owned peer, Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation in 2016. It is the world's largest steel producer.

<i>The Overland</i> Australian passenger train between Adelaide and Melbourne

The Overland is an Australian passenger train service between the state capitals of Melbourne and Adelaide, a distance of 828 km (515 mi). It first ran in 1887 as the Adelaide Express, known by South Australians as the Melbourne Express. It was given its current name in 1936. Now operated by private company Journey Beyond, the train undertakes two return trips a week. Originally an overnight train that stopped at large intermediate stations, it now operates during the day, stopping less frequently.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rail India Technical and Economic Service</span> Indian public sector undertaking

RITES Ltd, formerly known as Rail India Technical and Economic Service Limited a Navaratna, Central Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Railways, incorporated on April 26, 1974 is a multidisciplinary engineering and consultancy organization, providing a comprehensive range of services from concept to commissioning in all facets of transport infrastructure and related technologies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ASC Pty Ltd</span> Australian government business enterprise

ASC Pty Ltd, formerly the Australian Submarine Corporation, is an Australian government business enterprise involved with Australian naval shipbuilding, headquartered in Osborne, South Australia. It is notable for the construction and maintenance of the Collins-class submarine fleet operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the construction of three Hobart-class destroyers for the RAN with the first delivered in mid-2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inland Rail</span> Railway line under construction in Australia

Inland Rail, also known as Inland Railway and previously Australian Inland Railway Expressway, is a 1727-kilometre (1073 mi) railway line under construction in Australia. Once complete, it will connect the ports of Melbourne and Brisbane along a new route west of the mountainous Great Dividing Range, bypassing the busy Sydney metropolitan area and allowing for the use of double-stacked freight trains. The route will also connect to the Sydney–Perth rail corridor, reducing journey times between Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fortescue Metals Group</span> Iron ore mining company in Western Australia

Fortescue Metals Group Limited is an Australian iron ore company. As of 2017, Fortescue is the fourth-largest iron ore producer in the world. The company has holdings of more than 87,000 km2 in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, making it the largest tenement holder in the state, larger than both BHP and Rio Tinto.

Rosslyn Hill Mining Pty Ltd operates Paroo Station Mine at Wiluna in Western Australia.

Port Spencer is a proposed grain export port development project in South Australia. The project site, previously known as Sheep Hill, is on Lower Eyre Peninsula adjacent to Lipson Cove on the western shore of Spencer Gulf.

There have been several proposals and studies for a project to build a replica ship based on the famous Olympic-class ocean liner, RMS Titanic. A project by South African businessman Sarel Gaus was abandoned in 2006, and a project by Australian businessman and former politician from Fairfax division Clive Palmer was announced in 2012, known as the Titanic II. While Palmer has made no official announcement about his project being abandoned, it appears to have seen a dramatically decreased amount of progress by 2015 and no construction. A Titanic replica to be permanently docked at an inland resort in Sichuan, China commenced construction in May 2015. The Titanic Museums in Branson, Missouri and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee are designed to depict the forward half of the Titanic.

<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 Yeelirrie uranium project is a uranium deposit located approximately 70 km southwest of Wiluna, in the Mid West region of Western Australia. The name Yeelirrie is taken from the local sheep station.

The Roy Hill mine is an iron ore mine in the Chichester Range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, located 115 kilometres (71 mi) north of Newman and 277 kilometres (172 mi) south of Port Hedland. With indicated and inferred reserves of more than 2.4 billion tonnes, it is expected to become one of the largest mining projects in Australia. Mining operations will produce 55 million tonnes of iron ore per annum with an operating life of more than 20 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iron Road Limited</span> Australian exploration and mining company

Iron Road Ltd is an Australian iron ore exploration and mining company, listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in Perth, Western Australia since 2008 with an objective to develop a world class magnetite mine and infrastructure in South Australia. Its two projects were the Central Eyre Iron Project (CEIP), the planned output of which was to be 24 million tonnes per annum of approximately 67 per cent iron concentrate for almost 30 years; and the Gawler Iron Project, in abeyance as of 2021. The company's corporate office is in Adelaide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danhai light rail</span> Light rail transit system in Taiwan

The Danhai light rail is a light rail transit (LRT) network in Tamsui District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. It opened on 23 December 2018 and began service the following day.

Coimbatore Metro, also known as Kovai Metro, is a proposed rapid transit system for Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.

RCR Tomlinson was one of Australia's largest multi-disciplined infrastructure, resource and engineering companies with a reputation for delivering high quality mining technologies.

Kerala Rail Development Corporation d/b/a Kerala-Rail is a public sector joint venture company under the ownership of the Government of Kerala for the railway infrastructure development in Kerala. The company was incorporated on 3 January 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Hill railway</span> Private railway in Pilbara region of Western Australia

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.

References

  1. 1 2 "PIB Project Update" (PDF). Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. AusIMM Cairns. August 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  2. ↑ "Project Iron Boomerang". Project Iron Boomerang. East West Line Parks Pty Ltd. 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  3. 1 2 "'Iron Boomerang' plans onshore iron ore processing". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 5 July 2006. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  4. ↑ Project Iron Boomerang - Rail Corridor Identification Pre-Feasibility Study (PDF), East West Line Parks, 30 March 2007, archived from the original (PDF) on 16 February 2011, retrieved 23 June 2011
  5. ↑ "Current details for ABN 21 118 581 883". ABN Lookup. Australian Government – Australian Business Register. August 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  6. ↑ Condon, Shane (2015). "March 2015 Project Iron Boomerang(PIB) Up-Date & Information Kit" (PDF). Project Iron Boomerange. East West Line Parks Pty Ltd. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  7. ↑ "Proposed "Iron Boomerang" railway labelled unrealistic". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 16 May 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  8. ↑ Graham, Ben (22 October 2020). "Project Iron Boomerang: Radical plan that could rebuild Australia". news.com.au. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  9. ↑ "Iron Boomerang Railway". Railpage. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  10. ↑ "Project known as the Iron Boomerang". Parliament of Australia. Australian Government. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.