We’ve reached Australia! As our Cessna Citation crossed the Indian Ocean, we excitedly anticipated our arrival in Port Hedland.
Beta testing the rear-cockpit Cessna Citation
Port Hedland
What a fascinating town! Hot, salty, busy, iron-rich red dirt. Barges loaded with iron ore and salt.
Port Hedland (Kariyarra: Marapikurrinya) is the second largest town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, with an urban population of 15,298 as of the 2021 census, including the satellite town of South Hedland, 18 kilometres (11 mi) away. It is also the site of the highest tonnage port in Australia.
Port Hedland has a natural deep anchorage harbour which, as well as being the main fuel and container receival point for the region, was seen as perfect for shipment of the iron ore being mined in the ranges located inland from the town. The ore is moved by railway from four major iron ore deposits to the east and south of the Port Hedland area. The port exported 519,408,000 tonnes (1.1 trillion pounds) of iron ore (2017–2018). Other major resource activities supported by the town include the offshore natural gas fields, salt, manganese, and livestock.
Port Hedland is known by the Indigenous Kariyarra and Nyamal people as Marapikurrinya, which either means “place of good water”(as told by a Nyamal language speaker) and makes reference to the three reliable fresh water soaks that can still be seen in and around the town, or as the town council’s website says “refers to the hand like formation of the tidal creeks coming off the harbour (marra – hand, pikurri – pointing straight and nya – a place name marker)”. According to Dreamtimelegend, there was a huge blind water snake living in the landlocked area of water known as Jalkawarrinya. This landlocked area is now the turning basin for the ships that enter the port and as the story goes, “the coming of the big ships meant it was unable to stay”.
[ed. note: image by Elder G]
Located between Port Hedland and South Hedland are the large salt hills of Dampier Salt, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto. These large mounds have almost become a tourist attraction in their own right.
Salt
Salt has been in use since ancient times. It was used to preserve Egyptian mummies, and sprinkled onto the stage in old Japanese theatres to ward off evil spirits.
Salt is essential for human life. A well-known food ingredient, salt is also critical for many industries. The majority of the salt Rio Tinto produces is used by the chemical industry. Salt is a key ingredient in many renewable energy products, like electric car batteries. Salt is also essential for making materials like glass, paper, plastics, textiles and even soaps and detergents, and for processing foods and de-ice roads.
Our Dampier Salt operations in Western Australia are the world’s largest exporter of seaborne salt – meaning salt that is produced from evaporating seawater, as opposed to being mined as a solid mineral. We export millions of tonnes of salt every year, with most of it going to customers in Asia and the Middle East.
Dampier Salt is one of our oldest businesses and uses a unique and sustainable production process that relies almost entirely on the power of the sun and wind.
The shallow evaporation flats across Dampier Salt’s 2 operations have the potential to produce salt almost infinitely. The operations rely on natural processes of evaporation over an area greater than 21,000 hectares (equivalent to 168,000 Olympic sized swimming pools) to transform seawater into salt, predominately used for industrial purposes. The few million tonnes of seawater pumped over these shallow flats every day has created an important habitat that supports a variety of wading birds, including migratory shorebirds.
As the sun and wind evaporate the water over months of exposure, we’re left with a salty crust when salt crystals begin to form. Once dry, a specialised harvester collects the salt and transfers it to 320 tonne trucks for transfer to the washing plant. Here the salt is cleaned of impurities and stockpiled based on end-use specifications. From these stockpiles it is loaded onto ships at our on-site dock and transported to customers around the world.
Elder G and I had a few hours waiting for the Cessna to be refueled, so we took a tour of the Dampier Salt production facility. We soon realized the WLBOTT needs to get into the salt game. There’s gold in that sodium chloride!
Elder JA is in charge of international shipping.
Port Hedland International Airport
Port Hedland International Airport (IATA: PHE, ICAO: YPPD) is an international airport serving Port Hedland, Western Australia. The airport is 5 nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) south-east of Port Hedland and 11 km (6.8 mi) from South Hedland. It is an important airport for passengers who work in the mining industry.
Port Hedland International Airport, WA, 2023 By Chris Olszewski – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=135183499
[ed. note: PHE seems to be Perth-centric]
Café PHE
We headed back to the Port Hedland International Airport, where we met Bev, a Port Hedland native. She attended Hedland Senior High School (no mascot? no athletic program?) She patterned the menu at Café PHE after the her alma mater’s cafeteria.
But Bev was very hospitable, and knowing we had traveled a long way, she offered us some Australian favorites.
We left a nice tip, along with a business card, and an offer to provide Café with a lifetime supply of salt, if she would help promote our new business. She seemed enthusiastic to be part of the ground floor of this new venture.
Before we go, we’ll leave you with this Port Hedland fun fact that Google pulled up for us:
