A tour of Rio Tinto's Mt Tom Price mine has been booked for this morning, leaving from the visitors information centre at 9am. We were there early, as requested, and the carpark was almost full. We had a full busload attending the tour. Hard hats and safety glasses were issued and we all boarded the bus for a short trip to the mine site, receiving a bit of a brief town tour along the way. The settlement of Tom Price was founded by Rio Tinto in 1965 to service the nearby iron ore mine. In 1967 it was officially named Tom Price and not gazetted until 1985.
High grade iron ore was discovered at Mount Tom Price in 1962. In 1964 Hamersley Iron (a partnership between Rio Tinto and Kaiser Steel) was incorporated to develop Pilbara Mining operations and was listed on the ASX in 1967. Hamersley Iron later became a fully owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto.
We are soon at the mine, and the scale of it is enormous. It is not totally automated like many of the newer mines, as it was one of the first and infrastructure was in place for more traditional operations. The exception is the rail line to Dampier Port on which trains are totally autonomous. The Rio Tinto owned Hamersley Railway is the World's largest privately owned railway. The network covers 1400km carrying some of the heaviest and longest autonomous freight trains in the World.
As we arrive there is a train loading. The train continues moving forward slowly as the loader fills the cars. It takes about 3 hour to load a train with 120 tonnes in each car, with 236 to 240 cars in total pulled by 3 locomotives.
Our first stop is across the road from rail loader, to show us a piece of retired equipment just to give us a feel for the scale of machinery. It is a mechanical shovel which they now rarely used.
After photos were taken we moved on in the bus into the mine proper.
This section of the mine is no longer being mined as they ran into oil shale, the grey material on the walls
The next new area they are opening up is the peak you can see in the picture above. The current operating mine area was out of bounds for this tour for safety reasons. The mine has a nominal capacity of 28 million tonnes per year. Our guide suggested they were producing in the early 30 millions.
At the mine lookout there were a few information boards providing details of machinery used. No Australian names in the machinery manufacturers list, but we were heartened to hear that the rail cars are now made in Australia by an Australian company.
As the guide was providing more information a huge dump truck passed by on it's way to todays working area.
Some detail of the product produced was on another board.
And there was a timeline that covered the development of iron ore mining is this region.
The area were the most activity appeared to be was in the processing plant, which we drove through, looking at buildings full of crushers, screens and washing equipment, and conveyors every where. The overwhelming impression was just of the sheer size of the operation. There were so many facts and figures being quoted on the way around, but the scale of this operation is impressive. A few things did stick in my mind though, the cost of a dump truck tyre is $65,000. They are replaced every 9 months regardless or earlier if necessary. All machinery is retired and replaced after 10 years service. The machine maintenance workshops here are huge.
Taking photos through a bus window is not always ideal, and you can't photograph what is on the other side, but here are a few photos of parts of the processing operations.
The tour ran for 2 hours and the guide was very good, as he worked for the company originally as a painter and decorator, refurbishing houses as people left and new ones arrived.
We were dropped back at the visitors centre, handed in our hard hats and safety glasses, had a comfort break and then about 50 people descended on the local bakery for a cup of coffee, or lunch. We had a cup of coffee and bought some pre made salad and meat rolls, as we intend to go home, get changed, and drive to Hamersley Gorge.
The drive to Hamersley is just over 70 km of which just over 40 km is dirt. Hamersley Gorge is still part of Karijini National Park, so we will actually be re entering the park from this direction. As we arrived at the unpaved road, we went through the ritual of dropping tyre pressures, and headed off. It is probably the best dirt road we have been on, and we could sit on 70-80 km/hr comfortably, unless a large dust producer was travelling in front of us. There are a few large vehicles using this road as a shortcut. The grader was also out at work on a few sections which whilst delaying us a couple of times, were greatly appreciated.
A few shots as we are approaching the gorge, taken through the windscreen by my resident photographer.
Mt Sheila
Not surprisingly, as soon as we turn off to the gorge we hit some of the worst corrugations of the trip, before it miraculously turns into bitumen for the last few hundred metres. Hamersley Gorge is a popular place and car parking is limited. We did find a space but it was pretty much the last one.
On arrival, like everywhere in Karijini, there is good information, toilets, and even a picnic table to have lunch with a great view over the gorge.
The walks are limited to a steep descent to the Spa Pool and incredibly popular swimming spot
The geology of the gorge is explained including the spectacular folds in the sedimentary layers
After taking a few photos from the lookout, we decided to have our lunch at the picnic table above the gorge, before taking on the trail down to the pool.
The trail is steep and like most walks in Karijini quickly converts to a cat 4 trail after a short distance into it. Not to be deterred Carole takes it on and does well despite it's steepness, but eventually the trail deteriorates with irregular steps heights and loose gravel.
I continued on to the bottom of the gorge and Carole made a good decision, to take a seat halfway down and enjoy the view, as the ground was unstable and not good for anyone with a knee problem. There are no handrails, so if you slip it is a long way down and no soft landing.
The Spa Pool
A few shots from above walking down the trail.
In the wet season a waterfall runs through this area where people are soaking up the sun
The spa pool looking further down the gorge
A nice pool to have a swim
Whilst it is a much smaller gorge than the others we saw in Karijini, it is probably the best place to have a swim, and observe some of the geological marvels of Karijini.
Interestingly, our guide this morning at the mine tour said that Karijini National Park most likely contains incredible mineral resources, but will never be mined as it is so deeply entrenched in the cultural significance to the Aboriginal people.
Well worth visiting, Hamersley Gorge completed our Karijini experience, and approaching it from Tom Price seemed a much smarter move than trying to do it as a day trip from either of the camping options within the park.
Back on the road, through the road works and delays caused be the grader doing a great job maintaining the road, and putting up with the dust generated by the water truck in front of us for quite a few km. It would have been great had they let a bit of water go, but they were heading to support the grader, so we just dropped back and let the dust settle. It was still a very good unsealed road.
Back to the bitumen, pumped the tyres back up, and headed back to the caravan park. Mt Nameless lookout seemed like too much hard work for a view of town after a long day, so we continued on to the caravan park.
Tomorrow we are heading towards the coast. It is a long haul and we will stay overnight at Nanutarra Roadhouse.
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