BHP WA Iron Ore (WAIO) recently celebrated 10 years of operations at its Jimblebar mine.
Located 40km east of Newman in the Pilbara region of WA, Jimblebar is an open-cut pit iron ore mine home to BHP’s first fully autonomous truck operation.
The rollout of the company’s first fully autonomous haul truck fleet at Jimblebar was completed in 2017.
BHP credits the fleet with reducing the risk of exposure to driving-related hazards, improved productivity and an opportunity for its workforce to gain new skills.
“Jimblebar is an operation that has progressed year on year and has just continued to deliver really reliable, dependable performance and the productivity seems to just go from strength to strength,” WAIO asset president Brandon Craig said.
“All the work Jimblebar has done over these last ten years has really set the foundation, not only for fantastic performance at Jimblebar, but it’s been the reference for how we pursue automation everywhere else in the business. Happy 10 years Jimblebar!”
The Jimblebar iron ore mine is a part of a joint venture between BHP, who own 85 per cent and Mitsui and ITOCHU.
The project is one of five mines and four processing hubs that make up WAIO – an integrated system of joint ventures connecting 1000km of rail infrastructure and port facilities.
Jimblebar’s milestone celebration comes off the back of BHP revealing yesterday the mining giant injected $60 billion into the Australian economy in the 2023 financial year.
“Australia’s regional and remote communities are so important to BHP, and operating in a way that benefits the areas where we operate is at the heart of our approach,” BHP president Australia Geraldine Slattery said.
