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Western Australia Iron Ore Mining 2021-22

In Western Australia, iron ore mining accounted for over half of the state's total resource production value in 2018-19, totaling A$78.2 billion. The overall value of Western Australia's minerals and petroleum industry was A$145 billion for that year, a 26% increase from the previous year. In 2020-21, Western Australia produced 838.7 million tonnes of iron ore, second only to 2017-18, with most shipments going to China. The state has the world's largest iron ore reserves.

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51 views2 pages

Western Australia Iron Ore Mining 2021-22

In Western Australia, iron ore mining accounted for over half of the state's total resource production value in 2018-19, totaling A$78.2 billion. The overall value of Western Australia's minerals and petroleum industry was A$145 billion for that year, a 26% increase from the previous year. In 2020-21, Western Australia produced 838.7 million tonnes of iron ore, second only to 2017-18, with most shipments going to China. The state has the world's largest iron ore reserves.

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ganesh zore
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© © All Rights Reserved
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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.

Position of Western Australia within Australia highlighted

Location . Western Australia

Countryl. Australia

Regulatory authority. Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety

Website. Official website

Production. Iron ore

Production. Increase 844.4 million tonnes

Value. Decrease A$137.6 billion

Employees. Increase 78,974

Year. 2021–22

Western Australia's iron ore output for 2020–21 was 838.7 million tonnes, the second-highest figure
after 2017–18. The bulk of Western Australian ore went to China, which imported 82% of 2021
production, followed by Japan and South Korea, with 6% each.[4] The state has the world's largest
reserves of iron ore with 29% of the world's iron ore, followed by Brazil with 19%, Russia with 15% and
China with 12%.

In 2020–21 the Western Australian Government received A$9.8 billion in royalties from the iron ore
mining industry in the state.

History

While the Pilbara iron ore deposits were known, such as the Mount Whaleback deposit discovered in
1957 by Stan Hilditch, it was not until 1960, when the Australian government lifted the embargo on iron
ore exports that it had put in place because of concerns the mineral was in short supply, that mining
began in earnest.[7] Up until the mid-1960s, iron ore production in Western Australia, and Australia as a
whole, was negligible, in the range of less than 10 million tons a year. By the mid-1970s, this figure had
reached 100 million tonnes, with the majority coming from Western Australia. Production slightly
declined in the 1980s but it improved in the 1990s, reaching 150 million tonnes for the country by 1997
and 200 million tonnes by 2003.[8]
The first mine in the Pilbara, the Goldsworthy mine, was developed in 1965 by Mount Goldsworthy
Mining Associates, a joint venture between the British-owned Consolidated Goldfields (Aust) Pty Ltd,
Cyprus Mines Corporation of Los Angeles, and Utah Construction & Mining Company of San Francisco.[9]
A private railway line, the Goldsworthy railway, as well as port facilities at Finucane Island, Port Hedland,
were also constructed. On 1 June 1966, the first shipment of iron ore from the Pilbara left on board the
Harvey S. Mudd.[10][11]

BHP's operations in Newman date back to 1968, when the Mount Whaleback mine was opened, the
biggest single open-pit iron ore mine in the world. A new town, Mount Newman, was constructed, as
well as a 426 kilometre railway line, the Mount Newman railway. The first train left Mount Newman on 1
January 1969 and the first shipment of Newman ore left port on 1 April 1969 on board of the Osumi
Maru.[11] Newman remained a "closed" company town until 1981.[7]

Rio Tinto's iron ore operations in the Pilbara began in 1966,[12] with the Mount Tom Price mine opened
that year, becoming the company's first mine to open in the Pilbara.

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