Hope Downs Iron Ore Mine

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The Hope Downs mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 100 kilometres northwest of Newman. This boundary includes to the road area where the screen house is. The boundary may need to be changed once the image is updated to reflect the mine as it is not there yet.

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

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.

Iron ore mines in the Pilbara region.Rio Tinto iron ore operations in the Pilbara began in 1966. Exploration work through Hancock Prospecting at Hope Downs deposit began in 1992. Hancock unsuccessfully tried to develop the project with a number of partners, briefly rumored to be planning to join up with the Fortescue Metals Group in 2005, who was then developing its Cloud Break mine in the region. The development of the project suffered further delays when attempts to gain access to BHP Billiton's rail network failed, burdening the project with a further A$1billion in cost to construct rail and port infrastructure. Eventually, in July 2005, Rio Tinto became a partner in the project instead, making thereby the construction of major infrastructure unnecessary, and, after spending A$1.3billion, the mine moved into production in November 2007. The mine has an annual production capacity of 30 million tonnes of iron ore, sourced from open-pit operations. The ore is processed on site before being loaded onto rail.

In the first half of 2009, Rio Tinto upgraded the mine from an annual production of 22 million tonnes to 30 million tonnes.

Ore from the mine is then transported to the coast through the Hamersley & Robe River railway, where it is loaded onto ships. The 30 kilometre spur line connecting the mine with Rio Tinto's existing railway system was named "Lang Hancock Railway" in honor of Lang Hancock, founder of Hancock Prospecting and discoverer of the iron ore deposit.

The mines workforce is on a Fly-in fly-out roster. In the calendar year 2009, the mine employed 787 people, an increase in comparison to 2008, when it only employed 453.

Rio Tinto declared its intend to expand the mine, spending a further A$1.78billion on its new Hope Downs 4 project, scheduled to produce 15 million tonnes of iron ore annually by 2013.

Details for the mine:

Location: 100 kilometres north-west of Newman, Western Australia.
Operation: Open pit operation with site-based processing facilities.
Working arrangements: Fly-in / fly-out roster.
Capacity: 30 million tonnes per annum.
Products: Pilbara Blend Lump and Fines.
Geology: Marra Mamba Bedded Iron Deposit.
First year of operation: 2007
Ownership: 50:50 Unincorporated Joint Venture between Rio Tinto and Hancock Prospecting Pty Limited.

Assets Loading Equipment:
• 2 x Hitachi EX5500 shovels.
• 1 x Hitachi EX3600.
• 2 x Komatsu WA1200 loaders.

Haul Trucks:
• 20 x Komatsu 830E haul trucks.

Auxiliary Equipment:
• 1 x Reedrill SKF-12 drill.
• 3 x Reedrill SKSS-15 drills.
• 1 x Atlas Copco Contour Drill Rig.
• 1 x Caterpillar D10 dozer.
• 2 x Caterpillar D11 dozers.
• 2 Caterpillar 16H graders.
• 1 x Caterpillar 16M grader
• 3 x Komatsu WA900 loaders.
• 1 x Komatsu WA500 loader.
• 1 x Hitachi EX1200 excavator.

Crushing and screening plant - 30 million tonnes per annum (North and South combined).

Train loadout capability - 125Kt per day.

Power supply Power supplied from the Rio Tinto power network.

(Information as of Dec 2010)

Reference for information:
www.riotintoironore.com/ENG/operations/501_hope_downs.a...