Cyclone Heidi Shuts Pibara Operations

By Joel ScanlonJan 11 2012

Weather once again seems to be playing spoilsport in Western Australia as the approaching category two cyclone Heidi led to the precautionary shut down of two mining ports. The Pilbara region had suffered great losses in the mining sector due to heavy rains last year as well.

Port Hedland and Port Dampier were both temporarily shut down as a tropical cyclone approached the region. Port Hedland is the main iron ore port for BHP Billiton Ltd and Fortescue Metals Ltd. While the port at Dampier is used mainly by Rio Tinto.

The tropical cyclone Heidi is expected to hit the Pilbara region later in the day. In light of the category one cyclone hitting the ports are being cleared of vessels and are closed to inbound traffic as well. Australian miner Santos said that Cyclone Heidi had forced it to shut down production at the Mutineer-Exeter oil field.

The Bureau of Meteorology said that Cyclone Heidi was moving southward and could produce gusts of up to 120 kilometres an hour at its centre when it crosses the coast. Tides will be higher and rainfall could be in excess of 100 millimetres across the central and eastern Pilbara, with isolated heavier falls near the coast.