UPDATE: BHP's Main Iron Ore Rail Line To Port Hedland Closed After Incident

18th Jun 2010 02:28

(Adds comments by Western Australian police) By Alex Wilson Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES MELBOURNE (Dow Jones)--BHP Billiton Ltd.'s (BHP) main rail line transporting iron ore to Port Hedland in the Pilbara region of Western Australia has been closed after an incident early Friday morning in which one man died. BHP said the incident occurred before 0400 am local time on the main train line about 203 kilometers south of Port Hedland, the sole export port for the company's giant iron ore operation in the region. "The affected part of our main line rail from Newman to Port Hedland has been closed and all rail construction work has been suspended until further notice," BHP said in a statement. BHP didn't give any further details about the incident. A spokeswoman for the Western Australian Police said one man had been killed in the incident and the rail line would remain closed while police investigated. A car was parked nearby, but media reports that a train had crashed with a car are incorrect, and the train hasn't derailed or been damaged badly, she said. BHP is the third biggest global exporter of iron ore and is currently in the process of ramping up the expansion of its output in the Pilbara to 155 million metric tons a year ahead of a planned further expansion to 205 million tons in 2011. A spokeswoman for BHP said the company's Pilbara mines and port were operating as normal. The closure of the line halts all transport of BHP's ore to its sole export port, but miners maintain stockpiles at port to cover short outages so it looks unlikely to affect the company's export schedule. While the outage looks unlikely to have a major impact on BHP's export program, it does underline the benefits the miner would derive from a planned iron ore production joint venture with Rio Tinto Ltd. (RTP) in the region. BHP and Rio Tinto are seeking regulatory approval for a production joint venture which would see them operate their mines, rail networks and ports in the Pilbara as one but continue to market ore separately. Integration of the rail network would mean that if BHP's main line were closed, material could potentially be rerouted across the network to one of Rio Tinto's two ports in the region. -By Alex Wilson, Dow Jones Newswires: 613-9292-2094; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 17, 2010 21:28 ET (01:28 GMT)