Infrastructure

Rio Tinto Iron Ore owns and operates a range of infrastructure in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Infrastructure provision includes water supply and distribution, communication and power generation.

We operate a 120MW gas-fired thermal power station in Dampier and a 105MW gas-fired thermal power station at Cape Lambert.

As Rio Tinto's iron ore operations in the Pilbara expand, power generating capacity is being progressively added to match the increased demand. The distribution system between the RTIO and Robe power stations has been interconnected as part of the Pilbara Iron Initiative to better utilise the existing capacity. The first of two new gas turbines have been commissioned in Paraburdoo.

Rio Tinto Iron Ore provides many essential services and infrastructure needs for the towns in the Pilbara region. In 2006, our infrastructure and maintenance support was $32 million across:

• water
• sewerage
• power
• telecommunications
• housing
• airports
• roads
• drainage.