Jimblebar mine
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Location | Pilbara |
| State | Western Australia |
| Country | Australia |
| Coordinates | 23°23′04″S 120°07′23″E / 23.384341°S 120.123142°ECoordinates: 23°23′04″S 120°07′23″E / 23.384341°S 120.123142°E |
| Production | |
| Products | Iron ore |
| Production | 14 million tonnes/annum |
| History | |
| Opened | 1989 |
| Owner | |
| Company | BHP Billiton |
| Website | BHP Billiton website |
| Year of acquisition | 1992 |
The Jimblebar mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 41 kilometres east of Newman.
The mine is fully owned and operated by BHP Billiton, and is one of seven iron ore mines the company operates in the Pilbara. The company also operates two port facilities at Port Hedland, Nelson Point and Finucane Island, and over 1,000 kilometres of rail in the Pilbara.
BHP Billiton is the second-largest iron ore mining company in the Pilbara, behind Rio Tinto and ahead of the Fortescue Metals Group. As of 2010, BHP employs 8,000 people in its Pilbara operations.
The origins of mining in the Newman area date back to when the Mount Whaleback deposit was discovered in 1957 by Stan Hilditch but not publicised until 1960, when the Australian Government lifted the embargo on iron ore exports it had put in place because of concerns the mineral was in short supply. The first mine to develop was the Goldsworthy mine in 1965 and a railway line, the Goldsworthy railway, as well as port facilities at Finucane Island were constructed. On 1 June 1966, the first shipment of iron ore from the Pilbara left on board of the Harvey S. Mudd.
BHP's operations in Newman began in 1968, when the Mount Whaleback mine was opened, the biggest single-pit open-cut iron ore mine in the world. The mine is 1.5 kilometres wide and more than five kilometres long. A new town, Newman, was constructed, as well as a 426 kilometre railway line, the Mount Newman railway. The first train left Newman on 1 January 1969 and the first shipment of Newman ore left port on 1 April 1969 on board of the Osumi Maru.
The Jimblebar mine, 41 kilometres from Newman, was opened in March 1989 and has the capacity to produce 14 million tonnes of iron ore annually via a two-stage crushing circuit. Originally known as McCamey's Monster, after prospector Ken McCamey, the mine was acquired by BHP in 1992. While the mine is fully owned by BHP Billiton, it does also process ore from the Wheelara deposit, which is jointly owned by BHP and a number of Chinese and Japanese companies.
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Wikipedia