Location | |
---|---|
Location | Shire of East Pilbara, Pilbara |
State | Western Australia |
Country | Australia |
Coordinates | 23°08′42″S 119°34′19″E / 23.144968°S 119.572064°E |
Production | |
Products | Iron ore |
Production | 30 million tonnes/annum |
History | |
Opened | 2007 |
Owner | |
Company | Rio Tinto Iron Ore (50%) Hancock Prospecting (50%) |
Website | Rio Tinto Iron Ore website Hancock Prospecting website |
The Hope Downs mine is an iron ore mining complex located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It comprises four large open-pit mines (Hope 1 North, Hope 1 South, Hope 4 and Baby Hope). The mines are co-owned by the Hancock Group and Rio Tinto, and the complex was named after Hope Hancock, Gina Rinehart's mother.[1]
After the establishment of successful operations at Hope 1 North and South from 2007 onwards, Hope Downs 4 was developed, commencing production in 2013. Hope 4 is about 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of Newman, and had a reserve of 162Mt as at 2016. Production at Baby Hope started in 2018.[1]
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.[2]
In 2009, the combined Pilbara operations produced 202 million tonnes of iron ore, a 15 percent increase from 2008.[3] The Pilbara operations accounted for almost 13 percent of the world's 2009 iron ore production of 1.59 billion tonnes.[4][5] In 2010, the project leases were estimated to have 1,450 million tonnes of mineable ore and the mines to have an expected life of more than 30 years.[6]