Saturday 8th - Weipa Mine Tour

This morning we went on a tour of the Rio Tinto Bauxite mine which is the largest in the world. 

We firstly went for a tour of Weipa which is a town controlled by Rio Tinto, there is no council as such just a Weipa Town  Authority which comprised 2 Rio Tinto reps, 2 indigenous reps and 2 town reps. A contracted company looks after the town services and they are funded by Rio Tinto.

The town Cyclone Shelter ( Never used) as most houses are built to withstand a Category 3 cyclone.

On the way out to the mine we passed over the Mission river.

The Weipa bauxite mine is located on Western Cape York Peninsula.  In 2012, the mine shipped 23.1 million tonnes of metal grade bauxite. 

When we arrived at the mine we where allocated a cutting we could visit to see the mining in action, it was 22km from the entrance to the mine.

Unloading station, the ore is graded and loaded onto the train for transport to the port.

Rio Tinto Alcan Weipa operates under three Indigenous agreements-the Western Cape Communities Co-existence Agreement (WCCCA), the Ely Bauxite Mining Project Agreement (EBMPA), and the Weipa Township Agreement. These agreements provide economic, education and employment benefits as well as cultural heritage support and formal consultation processes between the company and the Traditional Owners of the land on which the companyoperates. 

The Weipa operations consist of two continuous mining operations at East Weipa and Andoom, two beneficiation plants, 19 kilometres of railway to transport mined bauxite to the port area, and two ship loaders. There is at least 90 years of working life left in the mine. The mine operate12 hour shifts, 365 days a year with it being 2 day, 2 night and then 4 off.

The dump truck weights 300 tonnes fully loaded.

Some product is shipped to international customers but the majority of Weipa bauxite is supplied to the Queensland Alumina Limited and Rio Tinto Alcan Yarwun refineries, both located in Gladstone, Queensland. The bauxite is transported to the port by a 32 wagon train, there are 3 in operation during  shift, one being loaded at the mine, one being either taken to the port or back from the port and one being unloaded at the port, they only use 1 locomotive, with one as a standby.

Rio Tinto Alcan Weipa is a major contributor to the regional economy and makes substantial investment in local infrastructure to support the Weipa township.

Weipa Golf course 

The afternoon was spent lazing around the caravan park and some restocking of supplies.