Finding the best rail route
Pilbara Iron, a division of Rio Tinto Iron Ore, has employed a sustainable development decision making methodology to choose a rail route for a new iron ore project being planned in Western Australia.
Rio Tinto reached agreement in 2005 with Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd to purchase a 50 per cent interest in the Hope Downs iron ore assets. The project development is being managed by Rio Tinto Iron Ore Expansion projects and is currently in the approvals process.
One of the key project decisions, comprising a number of economic, social and environmental aspects, was to determine which rail route is the best option to transport ore from the mine to Rio Tinto Iron Ore's existing rail network. The project team chose to utilise the sustainable development decision making methodology as a tool to assess the identified options and to deliver a recommended decision to the business.
The methodology considered the economic, environmental and social aspects of a decision much earlier than the previous decision making process which was based on economic criteria and considered social and environmental aspects as risks.
The sustainable development approach allowed complex decisions to be described more broadly and led to easier and more transparent decision making, shown to provide more opportunities, leading to better project outcomes. The methodology also allowed for development of solutions with the help of key stakeholders.
A broad range of project specific sustainable development factors were developed that considered the expectations of key stakeholders and Rio Tinto's sustainable development decision making criteria so that each option could be assessed. The criteria were developed by Rio Tinto's sustainable development leadership panel and published in 2005.
Factors considered in choosing the best option for the rail route included for example consideration of the proximity and suitabaility of borrow material for embankment construction, changes in flood characteristics of the area, maintenance of views from the Great Northern Highway, project economics of the options being considered, concern over construction dust and retention of Mulga trees.
It was found that the methodology aids in the decision making process once clear options have been selected. A number of internal group sessions were conducted to clearly define three options for the rail route analysis. Having defined the options, it was a relatively easy process of using the sustainable development methodology to select the option contributing most to the company’s sustainable development objectives.
Back to top