We wandered around the shopping centre , that took about 10 mins , then went back , put shoes on and waited for the bus . All boarded , off we went , doing a trip around the block with running commentary as we went . Tom Price is basically a mining town , not much else , it used to be a closed town - for mining staff only - but they opened it up around 1982 . There are about 1600 homes and a population of 5000 .
Around to the mine , we pulled up beside the mechanical workshop , there were 3 dump trucks being maintained - they are 2500HP , carry 240 tonne and carry 4920 lt of diesel fuel , and they have 36 of them !!! and then 6 x 100 tonne tippers as well !!! They have 10 diggers , ranging in size from 17 cubic metres to 15 cubic metres , that weigh from 200 up to 400 tonne !! and can scoop up from 35 to 50 tonne per bucket load !!!
Back to the tour , here is a picture of one of the old shovels that was decommissioned in 2010 . It worked for 72,555 hours and weighs 480 tonne !!!
The mine is based on Mt Tom Price , but brings ore in from other mines as well , it was discovered in 1962 . They also own the largest privately owned rail system -1,600 klms , servicing 15 mines . Trains are pulled by 3 diesel electric locomotives and have 236 carriages , which carry about 27,376 tonnes of iron ore !!! , that equates to $3.5 million per train load - 5 trains a day from Tom Price , that's lots of iron ore and lots more money !!!
Okay that's enough facts & figures , here's some more photos .
Its a bit orange from the tinted windows in the bus !
The tour finished and dropped us back in town , now it was time to drive to the top of Mt Nameless .
Mt Nameless is about 400m above town , so the views should be awesome , we weren't disappointed!! We drove up the 4wd track in low range , it was steep , corrugated ( just for a change ) and rocky , some sections require you to crawl over slowly , other bits are like the best dirt road you've ever driven on . Arriving at the top , there are several towers for mobiles , tv and other communications , we went to the highest first which gave us views from the east to the northwest . The Hammersley Ranges and all the mountain ranges around look spectacular .
It was a little smokey from bush fires , but still great , we then went around to overlook town .
Then a short drive back to overlook the mine .
Just to give you some scale , here is a 240 tonne dump truck tipping it's load , there's 2 cars on the left of the photo as well !!!
We sat and had lunch , taking in the views , not a bad lunch spot !!
Time to head back down , and we found another plant with red / pink flowers , we had seen it down at the bottom the mountain , but it looked a bit past it down there - there were also shades of red & orange - it blended with the iron ore easily .
More great views on the way down .
Down the bottom we stopped to disengage 4wd and unlock the hubs , and there beside the road were more wildflowers . They do a wonderful job of softening this harsh landscape - we definitely didn't expect this !!
We headed back out and down the road past the caravan park to Kings Lake , a man made lake with picnic areas & Bbq's , and a lovely grassed area beside the water . Speaking of water , we've seen bigger swimming pools than this lake ( more like a dam ) , and you aren't allowed to swim , boat or fish in it as it is polluted !!!! Needless to say we didn't bother to stop and look , just kept driving back to the park , realising we hadn't fuelled up for tomorrow - so we drove back out and filled up , came back and that was it for the day - Cheese & Bicky time !!
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