The West Australian reported that the Hamersley Ranges are the centre of the Pilbara's iron ore wealth and the foundation of the success of both BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
So for Fortescue Metals Group founder Mr Andrew Forrest launch of first iron ore train from the heart of enemy territory is nearly as big a day as when the company put its first ore on a ship to China in May, 2008
Mr Forrest said that "It's the first non Rio/BHP train ever out of the Hamersleys."
He said that "I've been trying to do this for 6 years. I had my first crack at it prior to the GFC, nearly got there then the GFC comes along and all the delicate financial instruments around these huge projects unwound. And we then had to wait until after the GFC to dust ourselves off and have another go."
Launching the first train on November 1st, Mr Forrest was keen to remind the company's workers who built the 130 kilometer line through tough terrain in less than 18 months that he has a long Pilbara pedigree.
He added that when we first did our little sharing of the vision of Fortescue and there was an executive from one of the major mining houses leaving the stage as Mr Forrest was going up to speak.
According to Mr Forrest, the rival executive quipped "You really can't trust these Johnny come latelies, these people who fly to the Pilbara like they've never been here and think they can make something of it, and don't know the decades of hard yakka, which we have put in as a multinational company into the Pilbara."
Mr Forrest' said that his family opened up the Pilbara. They explored it. All of the Hamersleys here were named after my great aunt, Margaret Hamersley and it's to her and to those old original explorers and to you modern day explorers and developers, that I devote the fulfillment of this dream.
The first train from Fortescue's Solomon Hub carried 23,000 tonnes of iron ore, mined at its Firetail pit.
