Mount Whaleback mine
2013 photo | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Location | Shire of East Pilbara, Pilbara |
| State | Western Australia |
| Country | Australia |
| Coordinates | 23°21′55″S 119°40′31″E / 23.365360°S 119.675400°E |
| Production | |
| Products | Iron ore |
| Production | Nominal capacity: 75 million tonnes/annum Combined production: 63 million tonnes/annum (for the Newman Hub, consisting of Newman West and East) |
| Financial year | 2021 |
| History | |
| Opened | 1968 |
| Owner | |
| Company | BHP (85%) Mitsui Iron (10%) Itochu Minerals (5%) |
| Website | BHP website |
The Mount Whaleback mine, officially the Newman West operation, is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, six kilometres west of Newman.
The mine is majority-owned (85 percent) and operated by BHP, and is one of five iron ore mines the company operates in the Pilbara. The company also operates two port facilities at Port Hedland, Nelson Point and Finucane Island, and over 1,000 kilometres of rail in the Pilbara.
BHP is the second-largest iron ore mining company in the Pilbara, behind Rio Tinto and ahead of the Fortescue Metals Group. In 2010, BHP employed 8,000 people in its Pilbara operations.