Mt Whaleback Mining Tour in Newman, WA

Today before the mine tour I had my photo taken with a big mining dump truck that was used in the Mt Whaleback Mine for 10 years.

On our way to Newman we stopped at Mt Newman to camp.  This was the view I took from the lookout there.  That's our motorhome on the right side.  We had the camp all to ourselves.

We then went to the Visitor Centre at Newman and we had to put on a hard hat, protective glasses and safety vest. 

We then boarded the mine tour bus to go out to the mine.  While we were on the bus we saw a big train carrying iron ore.  It had 124 carriages.  The tour guide lady told us really interesting facts about the mine.  Here are some that I thought were interesting -       

1.  When fully loaded a mining truck weighs 75 tonnes which is more than the take-off weight of a 747 jumbo jet.  The trucks costs about five million dollars each
2.   An average train measures 2.6km long and consists of 4 locomotives, 248 ore cars and 1 driver
3.   The World’s longest train record was broken in 2001.  It was 7.3km long and consisted of 8 locomotives, 682 ore carts and one driver
4.  Each mining truck tyre costs $40 000 and lasts between 9 to 12 months
5.  The Mt Whaleback iron ore seam is approximately 1.6 billion tonnes

We drove up to the mine lookout where you could see how massive the mine is.  It is over 5km long and 2km wide and is the largest open cut mine in the World.  Mt Whaleback used to look like a hump backed whale but it doesn’t any more because they have cut out all the rock.  When the mine company has mined all the iron ore they are just going to fill the hole they have made with water.   I saw heaps of dump trucks, water tankers, diggers graders, drilling rigs, cranes and bulldozers doing lots of work in the mine.

View from the mine lookout

Inside one of the shovels which can scoop 70 tonnes each time

 

Dump truck wheel

My favourite part of the tour was seeing the train going into a tunnel to be filled with iron ore.  The guide told us that in about two years the trains will have no drivers but they will be operated by remote control by a person in BHP’s office in Perth.  I don’t like this idea!

After the tour we had a yummy morning tea of scones with jam and cream.  I then had my photo taken with lots of old retired mining equipment.

Old retired excavator

 

This was the best tour ever!

That night we stopped at Bea Bea Creek and Nan was happy because there were Sturts Desert Pea everywhere.

That's all for now.

Bea Bea Creek camp spot

Sturts Desert Pea