The Pardoo mine was 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 f ...

mine located in the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, sparsely populated regions of Western Australia, region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal people; wealth disparity; its ancient landscapes; the prevailing r ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, 75 kilometres east of

Port Hedland A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inla ...

. The mine was fully owned and operated by Atlas Iron and was, at the time of commencement of production, the company's only operational mine. Atlas Iron is an iron ore explorer, developer and producer, predominantly active in the Pilbara region. Atlas Iron is a minor iron ore mining company, especially compare to the three big Pilbara iron ore miners,

BHP BHP Group Limited, founded as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, is an Australian multinational mining and metals corporation. BHP was established in August 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. As of 2024, BHP was the world� ...

, Rio Tinto and

Fortescue Metals Group Fortescue is a global metal mining company headquartered in Australia. Fortescue focused on iron ore mining under the name of Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) until July 2023. As of 2017, Fortescue is the fourth-largest iron ore producer in the ...

.Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistic Digest 2009

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& Petroleum The Department of Mines and Petroleum was a department of the Government of Western Australia until it was superseded by the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety on 1 July 2017.

, accessed: 24 November 2010

Overview

The mine commenced production in October 2008 and was the first producing mine to be operated by Atlas Iron. Ore is crushed and screened on site before being hauled by

road train A road train, also known as a land train or long combination vehicle (LCV) is a semi-trailer used to move road freight more efficiently than single-trailer semi-trailers. It consists of one semi-trailer or more connected together with or wit ...

s to Port Hedland, where the ore is shipped from.Pardoo
Atlas Iron website, accessed: 24 November 2010 The mine cost A$12 million to develop but, on start up of production, was troubled by the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

, with Atlas having hoped to sell its production on the spot market. Falling demands at the time however proved to be a challenge for the company as it had to find buyers for its ore.Atlas misses out as orders dry up
''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'', published: 21 October 2008, accessed: 24 November 2010 Atlas was able to recover from this position and, by the second half of 2009, sharply increasing revenue from its mine.Sharp rise in revenue for Atlas Iron
''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

'', published: 9 March 2010, accessed: 24 November 2010 Mining was carried out in an open pit operation. In its first year of operation, the mine produced 1.08 million tonnes of ore, but in full production, the mine was scheduled to produce 2.4 million tonnes of iron ore annually. In 2010, Atlas commenced production on its Wodgina mine, also located in the Pilbara. The company planned to lift production from its Pilbara operations to 12 million tonnes of iron ore by 2012, up from 6.5 million tonnes in late 2010. Of these, 10 million tonnes were scheduled to come from the new Turner River hub, which was to blend and process ore from the company's northern Pilbara projects, located at Wodgina, Abydos and Mt Webber.Atlas Iron lifts exports ahead of schedule
''

'', published: 1 November 2010, accessed: 24 November 2010 Atlas was hopeful to come to terms with BHP in regards to using the company's rail infrastructure, the

Goldsworthy railway The Goldsworthy railway, owned and operated by BHP, is a private rail network in the Pilbara region of Western Australia built to carry iron ore. It is one of two railway lines BHP operates in the Pilbara, the other being the Mount Newman rail ...

. BHP, in late 2010, had agreed to a joint feasibility study into how an arrangement might work. The mine, consisting of the mine infrastructure, eleven open pits and six waste stockpiles, was closed in 2013 after its resources were depleted.

References

External links

Atlas Iron Limited website

MINEDEX website: Pardoo mine
Database of the

Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety The Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety is a department of the Government of Western Australia. The department was formed on 1 July 2017, out of the former Department of Mines & Petroleum and Department of Commerce. A ...

{{Iron ore mining in Western Australia, state=collapsed Atlas Iron Iron ore mines in Western Australia Surface mines in Australia Port Hedland, Western Australia 2008 establishments in Australia 2013 disestablishments in Australia