Marandoo mine

The Marandoo mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 45 kilometres east of Tom Price.[1]

Marandoo mine
Location
Marandoo mine
Location in Australia
LocationPilbara
StateWestern Australia
CountryAustralia
Coordinates22°38′25″S 118°07′15″E
Production
ProductsIron ore
Production15 million tonnes/annum
History
Opened1994
Owner
CompanyRio Tinto Iron Ore
WebsiteRio Tinto Iron Ore website

The mine is fully owned and operated by Rio Tinto Iron Ore and is one of twelve iron ore mines the company operates in the Pilbara.[2][3] In the calendar year 2009, the combined Pilbara operations produced 202 million tonnes of iron ore, a 15 percent increase from 2008.[4] The Pilbara operations accounted for almost 13 percent of the world's 2009 iron ore production of 1.59 billion tonnes.[5][6]

The mine, alongside the rail, is within a narrow corridor that splits Karijini National Park into a northern and a southern half.[2] The Hamersley Range, where the mine is located, contains 80 percent of all identified iron ore reserves in Australia and is one of the world's major iron ore provinces.[7]

Overview
Iron ore mines in the Pilbara region.

Marandoo was formerly located in the Karijini National Park until it was excised in 1991 to allow for mining operations to commence. An associated rail corridor was excised allowing transport of the ore to the coast to the west, and to connect with future mines to the east.[8]

Rio Tinto iron ore operations in the Pilbara began in 1966.[2] The mine itself began operations in 1994. The mine has an annual production capacity of 15 million tonnes of iron ore, sourced from open-pit operations. The ore is processed on site before being loaded onto rail.[9]

Ore from the mine is then transported to the coast through the Hamersley & Robe River railway, where it is loaded onto ships.[10] Ore from Marandoo, like Brockman, Mount Tom Price, Paraburdoo, Channar, Eastern Range and Yandicoogina are transported as lump and fines ore product from the mines to Dampier via rail. Before being loaded onto ships for export, the product is blended and rescreened. The maximum size for the lumps is 31.5 mm, while the fines are at a maximum of 6.3 mm.[11]

Marandoo opened in October 1994 and was, at the time, the showpiece mine in regards to best practice design for Hamerley Iron.[12]

The mine is owned by Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd, a fully owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto, which owns 13 mines in the Pilbara, including Marandoo.[13]

The mines lifetime was extended another 20 years in the early 2010s when its lease was modified to allow it to extended below the natural water table. Groundwater is currently pumped to plains outside Karijini, where Rio is growing hay and supporting cattle.[14][15]

Workers

The mine's workforce is on a fly-in fly-out roster,[9] having originally been based residential, until the town became too small for the workforce.[16] In the calendar year 2009, the mine employed 355 people, an increase in comparison to 2008, when it only employed 250.[13]

Tourism

The mine can be seen from Mount Bruce, the second-highest mountain in Western Australia, located within the Karijini National Park.[17]

References
  1. MINEDEX website: Marandoo search result Archived 2008-09-11 at the Wayback Machine accessed: 6 November 2010
  2. Pilbara Archived 2013-10-21 at the Wayback Machine Rio Tinto Iron Ore website, accessed: 6 November 2010
  3. Mining Archived 2010-06-12 at the Wayback Machine Rio Tinto Iron Ore website, accessed: 6 November 2010
  4. Preparing for the future Archived 2011-07-15 at the Wayback Machine Rio Tinto presentation, published: 23 March 2010, accessed: 7 November 2010
  5. Global iron-ore production falls 6,2% in 2009 - Unctad report miningweekly.com, published: 30 July 2010, accessed: 7 November 2010
  6. Production of iron ore fell in 2009, but shipments continued to increase, report says UNCTAD website, published: 30 July 2010, accessed: 7 November 2010
  7. Iron fact sheet - Australian Resources and Deposits Archived 2011-02-18 at the Wayback Machine Geoscience Australia website, accessed: 7 November 2010
  8. "Karijini National Park Management Plan, 1999-2009" (PDF). p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-03-12.
  9. Marandoo mine Archived 2011-06-23 at the Wayback Machine Rio Tinto Iron Ore website, accessed: 6 November 2010
  10. Rail Archived 2013-07-01 at the Wayback Machine Rio Tinto Iron Ore website, accessed: 6 November 2010
  11. Iron fact sheet - Mining Archived 2011-02-18 at the Wayback Machine Geoscience Australia website, accessed: 7 November 2010
  12. The Australian Mines Handbook - 2003-04 edition, editor: Ross Louthean, publisher: Louthean Media Pty Ltd, page: 241
  13. Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistic Digest 2009 Department of Mines and Petroleum website, accessed: 7 November 2010
  14. "Reeling easy during large-scale dewatering". 5 June 2019.
  15. "Making Hay". 21 April 2013.
  16. Fly in, fly out plans for Marandoo mine ABC News, published: 26 May 2005, accessed: 7 November 2010
  17. Karijini National Park - Top 5 attractions Karijini National Park website, accessed: 7 November 2010
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