THURSDAY 23 JULY WEIPA
In the morning, we did the Comalco bauxite mine tour. This cost $15 each. We were collected from the campground office and travelled in a bus. We crossed the very long bridge over the Mission River to get to the current mining area. The bridge had a single road lane, with a couple of places where a vehicle could pull over to let an oncoming one past. Beside the road lane was the railway line for ore trains.
Inside the area that has been open cut mined for bauxite
The tour was quite interesting. The mining is open cut and large scale. The machines are huge! A couple of drivers of big machines amused themselves by playing tag with our bus and directing hoses our way. I guess it is a case of anything to alleviate the boredom.
These big machines played tag with our tour bus
There was a lot of emphasis placed, by the guide, on how they regenerate the land, and work well with the aborigines.
The bauxite mined here is shipped around the coast to Gladstone, where it is refined into alumina. This is then shipped on to refineries that turn the alumina into various forms of aluminium, like sheet and ingot. These latter two processes require large quantities of electricity, so it makes exonomic sense to take the bauxite ore to places where power is plentiful and cheap. Weipa’s power is diesel generated locally.
Inside the minig area – loading bauxite ore onto haul trucks
The mine workers average a wage of $55,000 a year, work 12 hour shifts, and have equal numbers of days on and off. They get subsidized rent and power and their air fares south are paid twice a year.
Apparently, they are regularly affected by cyclones here, in the season.
The guide also told us that there are lots of crocs around.
In the afternoon, we went and practised bowls.
Tea was soup, salads, tinned tuna. I am eating a little more.
The Hamilton people came over to tell us that they phoned D today and are going to Silver Plains tomorrow. I am pleased to have put some more people D’s way.
This Adventurous Age 