July 10 ... Tom Price

The Sunday papers actually got in at 3pm , but Coles was open all day, although there is only one Shell service station in town ... unbelievable!...what a gold mine!

The hard working Blogger

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Here I am, hard at work in my usual position in the van. I really enjoy recording out travels in this way but it always takes between 2 and 5 hours, and it does not always go smoothly. It is really the photos that take the time. For each blog the photos are: viewed, culled, fixed, imported, selected, uploaded, and arranged. Once the activities are recorded there is always editing to do, until eventually a reasonable finished product is achieved. It certainly keeps me busy and I have not had the chance to read as much as I thought I would.

Last night was very unsettling due to a strong wind flapping the awning and stirring the trees. This morning was heavily overcast and cool but we had a tour of the big Rio Tinto Tom Price Mine booked for 10am so off we went.

It was certainly an excellent tour ($28 each),despite the wind and the rain. "Baz" was very knowledgeable and pleasant, and even though he does the same spiel every day, he still managed to sound fresh and his jokes were still funny.

The main pit

Mt Tom Price

Garry in mine gear

Overview of Pits

The actual area being mined was more than 15kms long and 3kms wide, but only one section was in operation today.
There are a total of 13 mines in the area around Tom Price and they are all Rio owned. From this one mine they produce 28 million tonnes / year of high grade ore and are trying to increase that significantly. Originally they thought the mine only had a life of around 30 years but now they expect the ore to last another 100 years. At present they are only mining 0.25% of the total ore body. And to think that Lang Hancock inherited all this land from his grandfather ... he didn't even have to buy it.
The actual scale and cost of the operation is incredulous. We were looking at machines that cost $12 million each and trucks with tyres that cost $80,000 each!
The trains are almost 2.5 kms long and each truck can be loaded with ore in 19 seconds. Each train carries over $5 million worth of ore, and there are 25 trains / day so that means Rio mines a quarter of a billion dollars worth of ore every 2 days just from this small area. The train line is a private rail network, the 2nd biggest in the world, linking all the mines to the port at Karratha. Each ship carries more than $50 million of iron ore.  BHP Billiton send all their ore to Port Headland. If you add the Rio operation to what BHP, Fortesque Metals and sundry small companies mine each day, then Australia is currently producing around half a billion dollars of iron ore every day just in WA. It is a bit hard to have empathy with them when they complain about the carbon tax!
We saw a train being loaded and it was the longest train I have ever seen, despite seeing some very big ones in QLD. It moved very slowly and 6 men operated the loading mechanisms to fill each truck. When it reaches Karratha, the trucks are inverted to empty out the ore and the whole train can be loaded (and unloaded) in less than an hour.

One of the older diggers

Mine truck carrying ore

There are 32 tip trucks and each one costs $4 million; and all up, the mine uses over 1 million litres of diesel / WEEK ! This is brought in from the coast by special trucks, one of which we saw as we drove in, so the local Shell misses out there!
There are two qualities of ore and both are crushed at least twice. They are then loaded onto conveyor belts and moved onto the piles for loading. One mine has a CONTINUOUS (a single piece) rubber conveyor belt that is 22kms long. That would have been something to see when it was being rolled out during construction!

The crushing plant

This loads ore onto the conveyor belt

Most of the workforce either live permanently in the town or there is a contractors village ... and pretty basic it is too. Only the contractors and train drivers are fly in / fly out and both get paid a fortune, up to $240000 / year. A whole new village for 900 people is being constructed just out of Tom Price and that is for the workforce of just one mine.

The tourist operator is doing okay too. We were on a large 50 seat bus that was full. There are 1 or 2 tours a day, every day, and it took 1.5 hours, at a very slow pace. We probably only drove about 7kms. This is certainly a town in which you can make money but I don't know how the baker, or the coffee shop people, or the school teachers can afford to live here.

Tom Price is named after the raw materials expert who recognized the potential of the area during Lang Hancock's time. He was an American who unfortunately died of a heart attack on the very day that the project was approved but it was his enthusiam that convinced everyone that this was a viable project. It is a very attractive town with lots of green grass, trees, sporting facilities, a drive-in theatre, swimming pool and shopping centre. All the shops are limited to essential services though and if you wanted to buy a new pair of shoes it would be a 400 km trip to Port Headland. There is a big new development underway so you might be able to purchase a new dress here in the near future.

Tom Price

Township

Township

Just out of town is a lovely area that has been developed for family picnics called Kings Lake. It is shaded and grassed but you can not swim in the water there despite 45-55 degree heat in summer! Due to the lack of rainfall, the water stagnates and the algal content makes it unhealthy. The park does have beautiful views though, especially of Mt Nameless.
Tom Price is the highest town in WA, and the mountain is one of its tallest. Garry asked about its name and was told this story. In 1963, the whole town, railway and port at Karratha were constructed in less than 18 months ... quite amazing. Everyone was so busy that when they were asked by some Japanese visitors what the name of the mountain was, they said they hadn't thought about it and it was nameless. The visitors interpreted this as a name so that is what it became known as. We were told this same story a couple of times so, for want of an alternative explanation, we have to believe this tale.

Mt Nameless

Kings Lake

Despite the dreary day, the wattle is in flower and looking very cheerful. We have had another interesting experience and even though we might question the environmental ethics of what is happening here, it is certainly staggering (for good or bad?) in its size.
Still, I look forward to being reassured of a balance tomorrow when we visit the National Park.

Nature will endure!