Leaked report a glimpse into MinRes’ troubled road to nowhere
Slicing through the Pilbara at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, the Onslow road, which opened last year, was meant to be paved with gold. Instead, it is crumbling.
The radio chatter started just a few hours after the maiden road train left Mineral Resources’ flagship Pilbara iron ore mine bound for a port 147 kilometres to the west. The surface of the company’s new road was already deteriorating, the truck drivers warned each other.
It’s no ordinary road. Described by MinRes, a major diversified miner and contractor, as one of the country’s “most impressive pieces of transport infrastructure”, the Onslow haul road is the only way to get the iron ore from the company’s biggest mine, Ken’s Bore, to its customers.
Mark WembridgeResources reporterMark Wembridge covers resource companies for The Australian Financial Review, based in Perth. He formerly worked for the Financial Times in London and Hong Kong. Connect with Mark on Twitter. Email Mark at mark.wembridge@nine.com.au
Mark Di StefanoColumnistMark Di Stefano is Rear Window columnist, based in the Sydney newsroom. He previously worked at BuzzFeed, the Financial Times and The Information before joining the Financial Review as a media and tech correspondent. Connect with Mark on Twitter. Email Mark at mark.distefano@afr.com
