BHP Billiton Iron Ore has entered into a contract with Henry Walker Eltin (HWE) to manage the mining and ore processing operations at its new Area C mine, 120km north of Newman in WA.
The $100m, three-year contract will commence with mining of the “C deposit” on the northern flank of Area C, which contains a reserve of 201Mt.
The Area C development has been planned to produce up to 15Mtpa by 2011 and provide the system capacity for further expansion to meet any future market requirements.
The Mining Area C development will be completed at the end of 2003. About 500 people are involved in construction, reducing to a permanent workforce of about 100 when operations start.
The C deposit is being developed as a JV between BHPB (68%), POSCO (20%), CI Minerals and Mitsui (12%).
The mine will be managed according to the existing BHPB Iron Ore satellite mine strategy, with the company having 15 employees on site providing mine planning and grade control systems while 80 HWE employees will undertake site administration, mine and process plant management.
The conventional method of open cut mining will be employed at Area C, similar to that used at Yandi and Orebody 25. Material will be drilled and blasted, and loaded by excavators into trucks for transportation to the crusher. The ore is then transported by rail to Port Hedland for export.
HWE CEO and MD Bruce James said the HWE bid was successful because of the company’s knowledge of the iron ore industry.
“We do a great deal of iron ore mining operations for a number of different clients in different regions of the country, and along the way have developed an extensive bank of capabilities and innovations,” James said.
“The fact that the Area C project is currently the largest under construction in Western Australia makes the success of the Henry Walker Eltin bid team even sweeter,” he said.
HWE’s civil division is also involved in the construction of the 37km rail line between Yandi and Area C for transport of the ore to BHPB’s iron ore handling facility in Port Hedland. The rail link is due to be completed in September.