The Brockman 4 mine is an

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

mine located in the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a glo ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, north-west of Tom Price. The mine, located near the existing

Brockman mine The Brockman 2 mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 60 kilometres north-west of Tom Price. It should not be confused with Rio Tinto's Brockman 4 mine, also in the area.

, was opened in 2010.Expansion Projects
Rio Tinto Iron Ore website, accessed: 8 November 2010 The mine is fully owned and operated by

Rio Tinto Iron Ore Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

, which owns many mines in the area.Pilbara
Rio Tinto Iron Ore website, accessed: 6 November 2010Mining
Rio Tinto Iron Ore website, accessed: 8 November 2010 The mine is serviced by the

Boolgeeda Airport Boolgeeda Airport is an airport serving the Brockman 4 mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The airport officially opened on 27 November 2012 with a regional flight from Busselton while direct flights from Perth commenced on 3 De ...

. In May 2020, Rio Tinto achieved notoriety for its blasting of

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

ly highly significant and also

culturally sensitive Cultural sensitivity, also referred to as cross-cultural sensitivity or cultural awareness, is the knowledge, awareness, and acceptance of other cultures and others' cultural identities. It is related to cultural competence (the skills needed for ...

Australian

Aboriginal sacred site Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

s in

Juukan Gorge Juukan Gorge is a gorge in the Hamersley Range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, about from Mt Tom Price. It was named by the daughter of Puutu Kunti Kurrama man Juukan, also known as Tommy Ashburton, who was born at Jukarinya (Mt B ...

order to expand Brockman 4. A government Inquiry was established to investigate the incident on 11 June 2020. The

Hamersley Range The Hamersley Range is a mountainous region of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The range was named on 12 June 1861 by explorer Francis Thomas Gregory after Edward Hamersley (senior), Edward Hamersley, a prominent promoter of his explo ...

, where the mine is located, is, with 80% of all identified iron ore reserves in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, one of the major iron ore provinces in the world.

Overview

Brockman 4 is located approximately south of the Brockman 2 mine. The mine, which cost to build, was initially scheduled to produce 22 Mt annually, with a doubling of capacity planned by 2012, to help achieve Rio Tinto's goal of raising iron ore production from the Pilbara from 220 Mt annually (as of 2010) to 330 Mt. the ore body is approximately long and up to wide, comprising the hills to the south of the Boolgeeda Creek Valley. Mining incorporates a fleet of fifteen

Komatsu 830E The Komatsu 830E is an ultra class haul truck used in open pit mining designed and built in Peoria, Illinois by Komatsu America Corporation, whose parent company is the Japanese held company Komatsu Ltd. The Komatsu 830E is notable for the rated ...

haul trucks. The ore is processed on site in the plant to produce lump (<31.5mm, >6mm) and fines (<6mm) product. There is a primary Jaw

Crusher A crusher is a machine designed to reduce large rocks into smaller rocks, gravel, sand or rock dust. Crushers may be used to reduce the size, or change the form, of waste materials so they can be more easily disposed of or recycled, or to reduce ...

, two secondary

cone crusher A crusher is a machine designed to reduce large rocks into smaller rocks, gravel, sand or rock dust. Crushers may be used to reduce the size, or change the form, of waste materials so they can be more easily disposed of or recycled, or to red ...

s, a six bin screening building and a 1.2 Mt capacity stockyard. Stockpiled ore is loaded onto rail and then transported to the coast through the

Hamersley & Robe River railway The Hamersley & Robe River railway, majority-owned by Rio Tinto, and operated by its subsidiary Pilbara Iron, is a private rail network in the Pilbara region of Western Australia for the purpose of carrying iron ore. The network is larger than ...

, where it is loaded onto ships.Rail
Rio Tinto Iron Ore website, accessed: 8 November 2010 The mine's workforce is on a

fly-in fly-out Fly-in fly-out is a method of employing people in remote areas by flying them temporarily to the work site instead of relocating employees and their families permanently. It is often abbreviated to FIFO when referring to employment status. This is ...

roster. Brockman 4 was estimated to have a mine life of 20 years. It was officially opened on 2 September 2010. Rio Tinto allocated a further in early December 2010, to expand the mine as well as develop its Western Turner Syncline project, with the aim of increasing the Pilbara production to 283 Mt per annum by late 2013. The expansion would make B4 Rio Tinto's second-largest mine in the Pilbara.Rio Tinto signals $1.24bn ore expansion
''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'', published: 2 December 2010, accessed: 4 December 2010

References

External links

Rio Tinto Iron Ore website

MINEDEX website
Database of the

Department of Mines and Petroleum The Department of Mines and Petroleum was a department of the Government of Western Australia until it was superseded by the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety on 1 July 2017.

{{Iron ore railways in the Pilbara Iron ore mines in Western Australia Surface mines in Australia Shire of Ashburton Rio Tinto Iron Ore 2010 establishments in Australia