Orebodies 18, 23 and 25 mine

Orebodies 18, 23 and 25 mine
Location
Orebodies 18, 23 and 25 mine Location in Australia 23.339630°S 119.799797°E / 23.33963°S 119.7998°E / -23.33963; 119.7998Coordinates: 23.339630°S 119.799797°E / 23.33963°S 119.7998°E / -23.33963; 119.7998
Location	Pilbara
State	Western Australia
Country	Australia
Owner
Company	BHP Billiton Mitsui Iron (10%) Itochu Minerals (5%)
Website	BHP Billiton website
ASX	BHP
Production
Products	Iron ore
Production	37.8 million tonnes/annum[1]
Financial year	2009-10

The Orebodies 18, 23 and 25 mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 8 kilometres east of Newman.^[2] The mine is majority-owned (85 percent)^[3] 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.^[4]

BHP Billiton is the second-largest iron ore mining company in the Pilbara, behind Rio Tinto and ahead of the Fortescue Metals Group.^[5] As of 2010, BHP employs 8,000 people in its Pilbara operations.^[4]

Overview

Iron ore mines in the Pilbara region.

The first iron ore mine to be developed in the Pilbara was the Goldsworthy mine in 1965. It was supported by a railway line, the Goldsworthy railway, as well as port facilities at Finucane Island. On 1 June 1966, the first shipment of iron ore left the Pilbara on board the Harvey S. Mudd.^[6]

At Orebody 25, BHP operates a processing plant consisting of a primary and secondary crusher, and a screening plant. BHP Billiton does not report the annual production of the mine separately, but rather together with its other Newman operations which, in 2009-10, produced a combined 37 million tonnes of ore.^[3]

References

1. ^ Combined production for the Newman Hub, consisting of Mount Whaleback, the Orebodies mine and Jimblebar from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010, of which 32.097 million tonnes are BHP's share (85%).
2. ^ MINEDEX website: Orebodies 18, 23 and 25 search result accessed: 6 December 2010
3. ^ ^{a b} BHP Billiton Annual report 2010 BHP Billiton website, accessed: 6 December 2010
4. ^ ^{a b} About BHP Billiton Iron Ore BHP Billiton website, accessed: 6 December 2010
5. ^ Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistic Digest 2009 Department of Mines and Petroleum website, accessed: 6 December 2010
6. ^ History of the Iron Ore Industry and the Pilbara BHP Billiton website, accessed: 6 December 2010

External links

• BHP Billiton website
• MINEDEX website Database of the Department of Mines and Petroleum