On 30 December, Fortescue Metals Group had multiple rail cars derail about 150 kilometres south of Port Hedland in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
The miner said a “heat buckle” in its railway line was behind the derailment, which cut the supply of iron ore to its Western Australia operations.
“No one was injured in the incident and there is no impact to members of the community,” said a Fortescue spokesperson. Fortescue rail operations resumed 3 January.
It was the second major derailment to have occurred in 2023. Rio Tinto reported an incident 20 km south of Dampier in June.
Fortescue has rail operations running from three major mining hubs: Eliwana, Solomon and Christmas Creek.