East Hamersley Railway Project

Overview

The Pilbara Infrastructure Pty Ltd., a subsidiary of Fortescue Metals Group, proposes to construct and operate a railway of 106 kilometres (km) and associated infrastructure. The East Hamersley Railway Project includes communications and signalling infrastructure, an ore loading facility, groundwater abstraction and discharge, borrow pits and quarries, culverts, bridges, diversion drains, pump station, construction camp, landfills and wastewater treatment plants, and other supporting infrastructure.  

The proposal has a development envelope of 31,507 hectare (ha) and a disturbance footprint of 4,837 ha.  

The proposed railway connects the proposed Nyidinghu Iron Ore Mine to the existing Fortescue railway line 14 km north-west of the Cloudbreak mine, crossing Weeli Wolli Creek and the Fortescue Marsh.  

The proposal includes transport, electricity, and water pipeline infrastructure between the Nyidinghu Iron Ore Mine proposal to connect to existing operations.  

The Nyidinghu Iron Ore Mine has also been referred to the Environmental Protection Authority and is being considered concurrently to this proposal. Further information on the Nyidinghu Iron Ore Mine is available here.

Why your views matter

At this initial stage of the EIA process, comment is simply sought on whether or not the EPA should assess a proposal and, if so, what level of assessment is considered appropriate.

What happens next

Following the seven day public comment period and consideration of any comments received, the EPA will decide whether or not this proposal requires environmental impact assessment and, if so, what level of assessment will be applied.

The EPA's decisions on level of assessment are released each Monday on the EPA's website.