Back again , here's a couple of days in Newman - Day 1 - time to tour the BHP Whaleback Mine . The tour started at the Information Centre , complete with Hi Vis Vests and safety glasses , long pants , shoes and long sleeved shirt - glad the bus is air conditioned !! The tour started and took us through the security gates and into the mine , not wasting any time we were taken straight up to the lookout . Views were all round , the mine was on shutdown but there was still plenty of activity with tip trucks going in all directions , no trains however , and with that no loading of trains either .
The pit is huge and is down to it's No 30 bench - each bench is approx 15m . Mt Whaleback was originally 805m asl - so they've taken the top off and dug it out to this . The seam of iron ore is approx 1.6million tonnes and is taken to Port Hedland by the longest privately owned railway in the southern hemisphere !!
This is the processing and loading facilities , also the mixing area - the blue green and the ochre coloured material are mixed together to create a blend of iron ore .
This is the latest area being prepared for blasting - the lines are where they have drilled holes 12-16m deep and filled with an Ammonium Nitrate and Diesel mix - 300 to 600kgs per hole !!
There are crushers and conveyors running all around the place , rail lines for incoming ochre coloured iron ore and loading tunnel for the mixed variety .
This is the finished product , you can see the tunnel that the train goes through and loads up .
They have between 40 & 50 tippers , 5 water carts and various loaders & drill rigs . Each tipper can carry a total weight of 200 tonnes . Each train that goes to Port Hedland is around 3 klms long and carries a payload of 33,000 tonnes , travel at 65 klms/hr and take 3klms to stop !! Each individual rail car holds 130-138 tonnes of ore .
After a drive down & through some of the plant , we were taken back to the info centre for our cuppa , scones & jam .
Day 2 - a couple of spots today , first off was Opthalmia Dam , just out on Marble Bar Rd , they have created a dam across the Fortescue River to supply Newman with water - and the mines of course !!
When I went to take this photo I jumped up on the rocks of the wall , first thing that hit me was the stench - like something had died !! so it was back to the ute post haste !!
There are plenty of black swans and other water birds , and the stench was still there around near the picnic area - there were signs saying not to get into the water , or get wet at all - there was cyanobacteria in the water . It looked like there was some weed in the shallows that was rotting - it's the black layer beside the waters edge . The water was crystal clear out past this layer - they must treat the water well for people's consumption !!!
We didn't hang around for much longer , choosing to go to our 2nd destination for today - Kalgan Pool - apparently a popular spot for the locals . The track was more red gravel , corrugated , and narrowed down into one lane , washed out gullies and it had an interesting surprise further up the track .
There were quite a few wildflowers out , here's one .
The surprise previously mentioned arrived in the next 10 klms , the track turned into the creek bed - to continue along the track you have to drive down the creek , varying in-depth from about 200mm to about 500m at it's deepest . It's all single lane and is a bit off putting because you can't see the other end where you get out !!
This was getting interesting , each section of the creek we drove through seemed to get longer and longer , after about 4 times the next one was the longest , being about 150m and curved so you couldn't see where you were going to end up , or whether you can even get out of the creek !!
Eventually we came to the exit and left the water till the return trip . The water was flowing quite well in the creek as well , and was very clear considering there were a few vehicles going in & out .
Leaving the creek , we were back into the dry dusty track again , wattle trees providing a contrast to the red soil .
The track started to take us into a gorge and we pulled up near a camper trailer , we'd arrived at Kalgan Pool .
The cliffs around us towered above a pool of green water - apparently it is a very deep hole , the regulars climb up the cliff and jump in !!
After some lunch we headed up another track that takes you to some more water holes . The track got steep quickly and was washed out , so we stopped and turned around and headed back to the creek for a cool down swim .
There is one spot beside the creek where a camper truck was parked up for a couple of nights , we stopped there and went for a swim/ sit in the creek . The water is from a mine , and is heavily processed to make it environmentally acceptable , fit for the environment . Apparently it is strictly monitored and can't be released into the creek if not safe . The water temperature was reasonably warm , so not so much refreshing until you got out and got some wind chill .
After drying off we headed back into town , day done . Here's a map link : - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Jx62w6wJjJHMhuxkqnkPTEA5C1_VoLIi&usp=sharing
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