Mt Whaleback Mine

Statement of Significance

Mt Whaleback mine has historical, scientific and social significance, in addition to its enormous economic significance, both for the local community and for the wider Australian economy.
The Mt Whaleback mine, with remaining resources of over 800 million tonnes, is one of the world's richest sources of Brockman iron ore, assaying up to 69% iron (average 64%). Few iron ore producers can match the range and blend of ores provided by BHP Iron Ore. To support its workforce, BHP Iron Ore has helped provide a large part of the community infrastructure at Newman and Porth Hedland. Newman (4,500) is a serviced town, originally set up by the mine, but now administered by the Shire of East Pilbara.

Physical Description

Mt Whaleback mine, located 1200 km north of Perth, near Newman, was opened in 1969 when the Mt Newman Mining Project was offically launched. It is the largest of the mines operated by BHP Iron Ore and its joint venture partners Mitsui and Itochu.
A number of different buildings and facilities together make up the mine site. As the visitor approaches the security gate, one can see large overburden areas which have been scalloped to catch water and provide stability for areas which have been systematically revegetated. The old diesel powerhouse on the left has been replaced by a new gas-fired power station built east of the mine. The new powerhouse is fed by natural gas supplied from the Karratha to Kalgoorlie pipeline. A large workshop with 13 bays is well equipped to undertake repairs to mobile equipment. A fleet of 50 huge trucks, some of them Caterpillar 793 Model 13s with a pay load of 240 tonnes, needs regular maintenance. The high grade Brockman iron ore is taken from the mining pit to the crushing plants where it is crushed to less than 100mm, and conveyed to the train loadout stockpiles. Lower grade, or 'contact' ore goes through a separate crushing system to the Beneficiation plant commonly known as the 'bene' plant), where it is separated. The resulting high grade ore goes to the railway loadout stockpiles and the waste material to a separate stockpile for use as road base around the perimeter of the mine. From the loadout stockpiles, the ore is loaded into the ore cars for railing to Port Hedland. In each of two railway loadout tunnels, 13 chutes gravity feed the ore into 13 cars simultaneously, with the total of 240 cars taking approximately VA-2 hrs to load over 26,000 tonnes. This is the longest train in scheduled regular use in the world.
Mining operations are controlled from a computerised base (the "White House") at the top of the mine. From a look out position near the "White House" one can see the full extent of the 5.5km long pit which presently goes down 24 benches (each bench is 15m high and 10m wide). The mine is planned to go down to a depth of 38 benches. In the pit electrical shovels load 70-80 tonnes per bucket into waiting trucks. The gradient of the road leading into the pit is 10%.
Computer models are used to plan mining operations. Currently, activities are centred on a major push back of the 'North Wall' to expose more ore resources.
A few metres away from the 'White House", from another look out point, the visitor can see over the top of the beneficiation plant and the No 2 crushing plant to Orebody 29 in the distance. This Marra Mamba ore (limonite and geortite) has a more yellow appearance. There are other iron ore bodies in the vicinity.
Orebodies 23, 25 and Jimblebar have been developed to supplement production from Mt Whaleback. Other BHP mines in the region are Yandi (located 160 km north of Newman) and Yarrie (208 km east of Port Hedland).
The remaining administration buildings house other BHP Iron Ore staff members who contribute to the safe, efficient operation of the mine. The Public Affairs Dept plays an important role in educating and informing visitors to the mine, and in liaising with the wider community. There is also an administrative office located in Newman, known as the 'town office', dealing with housing, training and liaison, Aboriginal and other community issues.

History

The orebody at Mt Whaleback was originally discovered in 1957 by prospector Stan Hilditch when he was searching for manganese (another source quotes uranium as the mineral he was searching for). As there was a national embargo on iron ore, no development took place. After the embargo was lifted in 1960, Hilditch tried to rally support for developing the deposit. Eventually Charles Warman was also convinced, and a developer in the form of American Metal Climax (AMAX) became interested. After much exploration and testing, the Mt Whaleback dream became a concrete reality. The participants in the joint venture were AMAX, CSR, BHP, Mitsui, Itochu, and Selection Trust of England. The Mt Newman Mining Project was officially opened by Sir Paul Hasluck, the Governor General of Australia on June 26 1969. In 1986 BHP became the major shareholder, as they bought out the AMAX share as well as the other major shareholders. Their share went from 30% to 85%.
Iron ore is the basic ingredient for steel, and BHP Iron Ore is the world's second largest producer of iron ore, supplying steelmakers in Japan, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, the People's Republic of China, Europe and Australia's BHP Steel in New South Wales. BHP Iron Ore directly employs about 2,400 people at Newman, Port Hedland and its head office in Perth.
Today (1997) visitors can participate in a mine tour and can visit the site of the Mt Whaleback mining operation. Here the terraced orebody continues to be excavated and put through crushing plants at 4,000 tonnes per hour. The ore is then placed in trains with up to 240 wagons and 4 locomotives that together can measure approx 2.7km. The ore is transported to the Port Hedland iron ore facilities at Nelson Point for further processing, stockpiling and export. A number of expansionary changes were made to the port facilities in the 1960s, 1980s and early 1990s to allow access to huge iron ore carriers which transport the ore to international destinations.

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Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.