Rail Network
OPR is developing a rail corridor connecting mid-west mines with the port at Oakajee, under the exclusive development rights granted by the State Development Agreement. This corridor will also permit spur lines from the mines to the south east in the Karara and Koolanooka areas to interconnect to Oakajee when required. The railway to Weld Range and Jack Hills has a length of about 570km. The system has been designed to handle iron ore from the various mines including lump, fines and magnetite concentrate.
OPR’s railway will be a heavy haul single track with passing loops that is designed to provide an initial export capacity of 45 million tonnes per annum. This can be expanded in small, efficient steps towards capacity of 80-100 million tonnes per annum.
Engineering for the Bankable Feasibility Study is complete and work on detailed design is underway. OPR is undertaking extensive geotechnical and groundwater site investigations to provide inputs to the engineering design and construction contracts. Environmental studies, including seasonal flora and fauna site investigations formed the basis of a Public Environmental Review in August 2010, with a ministerial recommendation expected in the first half of 2011.
The proposed rail corridor is designed to minimise community and environmental impacts by avoiding towns, heritage sites and high value conservation areas, where possible, residences, and in 2007, the rail route was reconfigured to allow for a 70km radio quiet zone around the proposed Square Kilometre Array Murchison Radio-Astronomy Observatory.
OPR has designed an integrated and optimised multi-user railway and port logistics chain, which will enable mid-west miners to export their ore on equitable terms. The development of iron ore mining in the region will stimulate economic growth in the coming decades, with OPR and its partners set to become key employers in the region.
