3 ms·

Are there any/many large mines with only road access? I'd expect most bulk supplies to be delivered by rail, on the same line used to export the ore.

jillesvangurp 3y ago
Most mines have roads that are installed and maintained by the mine owner. Same with rails, power lines, water pipes, etc. Mines are mostly not conveniently located close to infrastructure but instead located in the middle of nowhere. Any infrastructure around them is there only because there is a mine. Rail is nice when you have it. But it's expensive to install; especially in rough terrain. North West Australia is pretty empty. The Australian rail network is pretty much non existent there. Most of the mines there are thousands of miles away from the nearest station. Distances are huge.
- Symbiote 3y ago
  My question was whether fuel was delivered by road train, or railway train, as I was surprised you chose supplying mines as your example. Public railways and stations are irrelevant, North West Australia has plenty of private tracks [1], and I've found this site [2] which says some of the mines own rail tankers for fuel. So for at least those mines, acquiring liquid or gaseous fuel is easy (safe + cheap). [1] https://www.openrailwaymap.org/ https://www.openrailwaymap.org/ [2] https://www.pilbararailways.com.au/roy/roy.php https://www.pilbararailways.com.au/roy/roy.php, https://www.pilbararailways.com.au/bhp/waggons.php https://www.pilbararailways.com.au/bhp/waggons.php
defrost 3y ago
Western Australias Pilbara region exports close to a billion tonne of iron ore per year - inland mine sites are supplied by road train (prime mover trucks + trailers), and move iron ore by rail via some of the longest, heaviest trains in the world (video search pilbara iron ore trains). Some mine sites have associated towns, others have full FiFo (fly in | fly out) work forces who roster multiple days on (and sleep on site) multiple days off. All the large mines have rail access as the tonnages dwarf what 100 tonne haulpaks can carry for 100+ km from inland to the ports. Rio Tinto + Fortescue Metals (and others) are all transitioning to electric | hydrogen truck fleets, trialling hydrogen trains, etc.

jillesvangurp 3y ago

Most mines have roads that are installed and maintained by the mine owner. Same with rails, power lines, water pipes, etc. Mines are mostly not conveniently located close to infrastructure but instead located in the middle of nowhere. Any infrastructure around them is there only because there is a mine. Rail is nice when you have it. But it's expensive to install; especially in rough terrain. North West Australia is pretty empty. The Australian rail network is pretty much non existent there. Most of the mines there are thousands of miles away from the nearest station. Distances are huge.

Symbiote 3y ago
My question was whether fuel was delivered by road train, or railway train, as I was surprised you chose supplying mines as your example. Public railways and stations are irrelevant, North West Australia has plenty of private tracks [1], and I've found this site [2] which says some of the mines own rail tankers for fuel. So for at least those mines, acquiring liquid or gaseous fuel is easy (safe + cheap). [1] https://www.openrailwaymap.org/ https://www.openrailwaymap.org/ [2] https://www.pilbararailways.com.au/roy/roy.php https://www.pilbararailways.com.au/roy/roy.php, https://www.pilbararailways.com.au/bhp/waggons.php https://www.pilbararailways.com.au/bhp/waggons.php

defrost 3y ago

Western Australias Pilbara region exports close to a billion tonne of iron ore per year - inland mine sites are supplied by road train (prime mover trucks + trailers), and move iron ore by rail via some of the longest, heaviest trains in the world (video search pilbara iron ore trains). Some mine sites have associated towns, others have full FiFo (fly in | fly out) work forces who roster multiple days on (and sleep on site) multiple days off. All the large mines have rail access as the tonnages dwarf what 100 tonne haulpaks can carry for 100+ km from inland to the ports. Rio Tinto + Fortescue Metals (and others) are all transitioning to electric | hydrogen truck fleets, trialling hydrogen trains, etc.