Western Australian State Development Minister Bill Marmion has toured the Roy Hill project, the State’s newest – and the nation’s biggest – single-pit iron ore mine.
“Roy Hill celebrated its first shipment in December 2015, and is now in the process of ramping up to its full production capacity of 55 million tonnes per annum,” Mr Marmion said.
“At full capacity, five ore trains per day will run between the mine and port facilities at Port Hedland, all controlled via Roy Hill’s state-of-the-art remote operations centre in Perth.
The Minister said the mine is expected to operate for more than two decades.
“It has already generated extensive economic benefits for the State, with the construction workforce peaking at 6,000 and ongoing operations employing almost 2,000 people.
Western Australia is the world’s largest producer of iron ore, accounting for 37% of global production in 2014. Annual production is forecast to grow by 3% each year to 2018-19, bolstered by projects such as Roy Hill.
Fact File
- Roy Hill is located 115km north of Newman
- It comprises an open pit mine, processing plant, 344km of heavy haul railway, export facilities at Port Hedland and remote operations centre in Redcliffe
- The mine’s expected operating life is more than 20 years
- Roy Hill is majority owned by Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd, with a consortium of international investors including Marubeni Corporation, POSCO and China Steel Corporation