Yarrie mine
| Company type | Mining operation |
|---|---|
| Industry | Mining |
| Founded | December 1993 |
| Headquarters | Pilbara , Australia |
Area served | Pilbara region |
| Owner | BHP (85%) |
Number of employees | 90 (targeted in 2007 Indigenous employment contract) |
The Yarrie mine is an iron ore extraction site situated in the Pilbara area of Western Australia, approximately 90 kilometres to the north-east of Marble Bar.
Owned predominantly (85%) and operated by BHP, Yarrie is among the seven iron ore mines that BHP manages within the Pilbara region. The corporation also oversees two port operations at Port Hedland—Nelson Point and Finucane Island—as well as more than 1,000 kilometres of railway infrastructure across the area. Yarrie is incorporated within the Mount Goldsworthy joint venture, which includes the Area C and Nimingarra mine, the latter having been under care and maintenance since 2007.
By 2010, BHP Billiton ranked as the second-largest iron ore producer in the Pilbara, trailing Rio Tinto but ahead of Fortescue Metals Group, with a workforce numbering around 8,000 employees across its Pilbara operations.
On 25 February 2014, BHP Billiton declared an indefinite halt to iron ore production at Yarrie as part of measures to reduce operational costs.
Overview
The earliest iron ore mining operation in the Pilbara was the Goldsworthy mine established in 1965, which included the Goldsworthy railway and port facilities located at Finucane Island. The first shipment of iron ore from Pilbara departed on Harvey S. Mudd on 1 June 1966.
Operations at the Yarrie mine commenced in December 1993. Along the Goldsworthy railway corridor, several mines such as Goldsworthy, Nimingarra, and Shay Gap mine were active; however, Yarrie remains the sole mine still functioning. The fixed processing plant at Yarrie, designed for an annual capacity of 8 million tonnes, has been placed into care and maintenance, with only a smaller mobile processing plant currently in use.
Indigenous affairs
In 2007, BHP Billiton awarded a contract valued at A$300 million to Ngarda Civil and Mining, an Aboriginal-owned enterprise, representing the largest mining contract ever granted to an Indigenous company. This five-year agreement aimed to raise Aboriginal employment at the mine to 70 out of a total workforce of 90. Brian Taylor, managing director of Ngarda, regarded this initiative as a significant step toward transitioning local Aboriginal communities from reliance on welfare to consistent employment. At that period, Aboriginal Western Australians experienced an unemployment rate of 14 percent compared to 3.3 percent among the wider population.