The Mount Tom Price mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, near the town of Tom Price.Government of Western Australia, Department of Energy, Mines, Industry, Regulation and Safety, MINEDEX website search, ‘Tom Price’ project result, accessed: 11 Mar 2025
The mine is fully owned and operated by Rio Tinto Iron Ore and is one of twelve iron ore mines the company operates in the Pilbara.Pilbara Rio Tinto Iron Ore website, accessed: 6 November 2010Mining Rio Tinto Iron Ore website, accessed: 6 November 2010 In 2009, the combined Pilbara operations produced 202 million tonnes of iron ore, a 15 percent increase from 2008.Preparing for the future Rio Tinto presentation, published: 23 March 2010, accessed: 7 November 2010 The Pilbara operations accounted for almost 13 percent of the world's 2009 iron ore production of 1.59 billion tonnes.Global iron-ore production falls 6,2% in 2009 - Unctad report miningweekly.com, published: 30 July 2010, accessed: 7 November 2010Production of iron ore fell in 2009, but shipments continued to increase, report says UNCTAD website, published: 30 July 2010, accessed: 7 November 2010
The Hamersley Range, where the mine is located, contains 80 percent of all identified iron ore reserves in Australia and is one of the world's major iron ore provinces.Iron fact sheet - Australian Resources and Deposits Geoscience Australia website, accessed: 2 Apr 2017
Overview
Rio Tinto's iron ore operations in the Pilbara began in 1966, with the Mount Tom Price mine opening that year. Mount Tom Price was the company's first mine to open in the Pilbara.The Australian Mines Handbook - 2003-04 edition, editor: Ross Louthean, publisher: Louthean Media Pty Ltd, page: 242 The mine has an annual production capacity of 28 million tonnes of iron ore, sourced from open-pit operations. The ore is processed on site before being loaded onto rail.Mount Tom Price mine Rio Tinto Iron Ore website, accessed: 6 November 2010 Ore from Mount Tom Price, like Brockman, Paraburdoo, Channar, Eastern Range, Marandoo and Yandicoogina are transported as lump and fines ore product from the mines to Dampier via rail. Before being loaded onto ships for export, the product is blended and rescreened. The maximum size for the lumps is 31.5 mm, while the fines are at a maximum of 6.3 mm.Iron fact sheet - Mining Geoscience Australia website, accessed: 7 November 2010
Ore from the mine is then transported to the coast through the Hamersley & Robe River railway, where it is loaded onto ships.Rail Rio Tinto Iron Ore website, accessed: 6 November 2010
The mine's workforce is residential and lives in Tom Price. In 2009, the mine employed 1,515 people, a decrease in comparison to 2008, when it employed 1,701.
The mine is owned by Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd, a fully owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto, which owns six mines in the Pilbara, including Mount Tom Price, and partly owns two more mines in the region.Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistic Digest 2009 Department of Mines and Petroleum website, accessed: 8 November 2010 The company is building a 45MW/12MWh battery as a virtual synchronous machine to control the mine's electricity grid.
References
External links Rio Tinto Iron Ore website MINEDEX website Database of the Department of Mines and Petroleum