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Rio’s AutoHaul set to be operational in 2018

Rio Tinto train - Photo Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto expects its iron ore operation’s AutoHaul autonomous rail program to be fully commissioned by the end of 2018, as part of its continued efforts to remove the bottlenecks presented by its rail network to its mining and export operation.

Chris Salisbury, Rio’s iron ore boss, told reporters on June 18 the miner expects to spend roughly $2.2 billion on replacement mines over the next three years.

“We have an extensive pipeline of future development options,” Salisbury said. “In 2018, our 700 kilometre drilling programme will provide both ongoing reserve replenishment and significant optionality to optimise operations.”

But Salisbury said Rio was not only focused on maintaining high volumes, it was focused on exporting those volumes as efficiently as possible.

“Our strategy is to optimise our Pilbara assets to deliver value for our shareholders,” he said.

“Our pioneering autonomous rail project, AutoHaul, is on schedule to be implemented by the end of the year, and is already delivering benefits to the business through an uplift in rail capacity.

“Removing our bottleneck in rail and increasing flexibility remain a key priority. This work is progressing well and rail and mine capacity should be in line with nameplate port capacity by the end of 2019.”

The first of Rio’s major capacity replacement projects, Koodaideri, is progressing through the feasibility study phase, Salisbury said. Koodaideri would be the first of three major capacity replacement projects for Rio Tinto in its WA iron ore business.

The board of Rio’s major iron ore contemporary, BHP, last week approved the $4.49 billion development of its South Flank project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

BHP said last week it is targeting 80 million tonnes of annual production from the South Flank project, which is largely expected to replace output from the aging Yandi mine. South Flank will extend BHP’s existing infrastructure at its Mining Area C site.

The BHP project will construct an 80 million tonne per annum crushing and screening plant, an overland conveyor system, and stockyard and train loading facilities. Product from South Flank will increase BHP’s Pilbara operation’s average iron grade from 61% to 62%, and will boost the overall proportion of lump from 25% to around 35%.

BHP’s move followed an announcement by Fortescue last month, for plans to spend $1.5 billion building 30 million tonnes per annum of new mining, processing and rail infrastructure.

2 Comments

  1. dumb question, would a conveyor belt work? I don’t know what the limitations are. But it can run 24/7.
    The SEC ran trains in the LaTrobe Valley and converted them to conveyor belt but that’s a smaller operation.
    I also wondered about having a pipeline and blowing air and iron ore dust through it. Probably some huge obstacle or it would have been done by now. Probably not too far fetched if Elon Musk intends to send passengers down a tube.

  2. Conveyor belt operation can work, but there are issues.
    1/ The conveyor belt line is fixed and not as easily shifted as old deposits are exhausted and new ones come on line.

    2/ A problem somewhere on the conveyor belt can immediately stop the entire operation. The probability increases as distances increase.

    3/ Higher maintenance costs due to environment and the immense volumes being transported.

    4/ Lack of flexibility to demands. If demand increases, it is not as easy to simple run the conveyor faster, whereas it is much easier to add extra wagons an existing train – or take a few off.

    .5/ Maintenance and inspection must be done regularly, if not daily. Every bolt and every weld must be checked. Rail is simply much easier to maintain and inspect. If something needs to be replaced, it can be easily swapped out in the workshop or rail yard. A conveyor belt does not have this attribute. If something needs to be replaced, production must be stopped and the part swapped out, possibly at a remote location under adverse conditions (egs: heat, rain, darkness, height).

    Conveyor belt operation does have it’s place, it’s just not going to work as well as rail in the Pilbara. The iron ore shipment operation in Australia is the most efficient operation in the world. If conveyor belt, pipeline or canal barge would do the job cheaper, quicker and more efficiently than rail, it would have been done by now. Things will change, of course, but rail is holding up very well at the moment.