The key iron ore export hub of Port Hedland is reopening after the biggest cyclone to hit Western Australia in at least a decade made landfall, with a gold mine bracing for destructive winds as the storm moves inland.
(Bloomberg) — The key iron ore export hub of Port Hedland is reopening after the biggest cyclone to hit Western Australia in at least a decade made landfall, with a gold mine bracing for destructive winds as the storm moves inland.
Port Hedland was scheduled to reopen at 11 a.m. local time Friday after an inspection of the channel and berths confirmed safe operations can resume, according to Pilbara Ports Authority. BHP Group and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. ship iron ore from the harbor, which was closed on Thursday.
Severe tropical cyclone Ilsa crossed the coast overnight east of Port Hedland in a sparsely populated region as a category 5 — the strongest on the Australian scale. The storm is weakening as it tracks inland but has maintained cyclone intensity as it nears Newcrest Mining Ltd.’s Telfer gold and copper operation, which is 400 kilometers (248 miles) from the port.
The Telfer mine started implemented plans to wind down production at the site and reduce staffing to a skeleton crew ahead of the cyclone, a spokesperson said on Thursday. Destructive wind gusts up to 155 kilometers per hour are set to reach Telfer on Friday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Ilsa was a category 3 cyclone and 105 kilometers west-northwest of Telfer as of 8 a.m. local time, according to a notice from the bureau.
The mayor of Port Hedland told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that winds from the cyclone were “like a freight train” but the town appeared to have been spared from major damage. The owners of Pardoo Roadhouse, a tavern and gas station along the coastline, reported “great damage” to their building after riding out the storm, according to local media.
Fortescue said no major damage has been reported across any of the company’s Pilbara operations and monitoring will continue over the coming days to assess potential flooding risk, according to a spokesperson. Some teams are commencing post-cyclone ramp up activities, they said.
Ilsa is the sixth tropical cyclone and the strongest to make landfall in Australia this season, which runs from Nov. 1 to April 30, according to the bureau. The storm is expected to dump as much as 200 millimeters (7.8 inches) of rain in some areas on Friday.
–With assistance from Liz Yee Xing Ng and Kevin Varley.
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