Australian miner BHP Billiton today celebrated the official opening of its new Jimblebar iron ore mine, which is located at 40 kilometres east of Newman in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Jimblebar delivered first production in the quarter ending September 2013 and is expected to deliver phase one capacity of 35 million mt per year by the end of the 2015 financial year. Together with the installation of four mobile crushers, this will increase total Western Australia Iron Ore (WAIO) supply chain capacity to in excess of 220 million mt per year.
Meanwhile, in the longer term, a low cost option to expand Jimblebar to 55 million mt per year and the broader debottlenecking of the supply chain is expected to underpin capital efficient growth in WAIO capacity to approximately 260 to 270 million mt per year.
"Mobile crib rooms and fuelling stations have been positioned closer to the mine pits so our trucks and equipment spend more time moving earth and less time travelling or parked out of action," said BHP Billiton Iron Ore president Jimmy Wilson.
"Our pursuit of productivity gains and operational excellence is delivering significant value at Western Australia Iron Ore. The business is now well positioned to deliver high margin volume growth at a substantially lower cost. We are also pleased to announce we are extending our Jimblebar autonomous truck trial to the neighboring Wheelarra operations using six Caterpillar 793-F trucks in the second trial," added Wilson.
