Outback Mining

Blogging friends; when you see just about everyone in the town walking around in these clothes, you know that you are in a mining town and..........mining towns there are; in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia.

This pic below is only a small portion of the biggest iron ore open cut mine in the world; which happens to be here in Western Australia at Newman. The depth is awesome with huge trucks and machinery looking like little ants moving around on the edges. This mine will be operating for many more years to come but; when the mining is finished a huge portion of it will become a lake and other areas will be re-habilitated to its former natural state....what a wonderful thought for the people in the area.

The Iron Ore that is extracted from this mine operation is handle by "whopping" equipment. Take a look at how I am dwarfed (that's me on the left) by just the tyre of the huge dump trucks, that carry the iron ore from the base of the mine to the stock piles....

Then; there are big road trains that travel the roads constantly with all types of supplies for the mining operations.....I tell you friends when you meet these giants on the roadways, you just move over and give them the road...lol!

The locomotives that carry the iron ore from Newman to Port Hedland are also massive. The companies handbook says; that (quote) "a typical train will have six locomotives pulling more than 42,000 tonnes of iron ore. Most trains have 336 ore cars with each carrying approximately 125 tonnes of ore. The trains are up to 3.75 kilometres long and the journey from Newman to Port Hedland takes approximately eight hours". (unquote). Now that is definately "heavy haulage"......

then; there are the monsterous ships which carry the iron ore to Overseas Ports. Again the company handbook says; (quote) The Finucane Island facility is capable of handling four ships, each up to 330 metre long and carrying up to 250,000 tonnes of ore. A dock shiploader can load at a rate of about 10,000 tonnes an hour. On average, it takes about 30 hours to load a ship and around 850 ships are loaded each year at Port Hedland. (unquote).

It is an awesome operation which covers vast areas of land. Like most people, I wondered how the environment handled such a massive impact and; I am pleased to say that it was more than evident that nature is quite okey with all that is happening around it. "Rose Hops" pictured below grown happily in the mining area.....

The pretty flowers are a sweet contrast to the ancient rocks that are being turned over with the mining operation...

A wetland functions without disturbance at the rail head facility in Port Hedland. On our tour; an amazing amount of birds were enjoying their little bit of paradise.....

and further out in the countryside surrounding the mining district, the wildflowers that Western Australia is famous for; still go about their yearly business of putting on a grand show....

and; nearby National treasures like the 'Karajini National Park' continue on their timeless journey from as far back as Ancient times, without any interruption. The pic below shows how nature itself can put a whopping hole in the ground as well.....

can you see the young people down there swimming in this pristine water?

well; they had to climb down the steep walls of this gorge and walk along its base to get there......oh to be young again!!

Lovely trees also flourish in the mining region. These delightful Gums grow in low lying areas which flood with water during the "Wet Season" of the Top End.

The future for mining in Australia is very positive and....extremely important for our economy. It was heart warming to see mining companies providing much needed employment; but at the same time providing "Environmental Services" to work hand in hand with nature, to care for our land.