Pastoral stations

Rio Tinto's Iron Ore group manages six pastoral stations in the Pilbara - Karratha, Hamersley, Rocklea, Juna, Yalleen and Yarraloola. Property management strategies for each station encompass all company policies with emphasis on safety, local heritage values, and natural resource conservation.

Karratha, Hamersley, Rocklea and Juna are owned by Hamersley Iron; Yarraloola is owned by the Robe River Iron Associates joint venture through the Yarraloola Pastoral Company, all of which are managed by Rio Tinto.  Yalleen is owned by Robe River Iron Associates and sub-leased to Williambury Station (WA) Pty Ltd.

We hold pastoral leases not only for grazing purposes, but also strategic access for exploration, infrastructure development, future mining and production.

The stations are managed as operational pastoral properties under the Land Administration Act, Western Australia. This practice allows us to support the wider pastoral community by supporting (in some cases funding) and promoting research projects into sustainable land management techniques and passing on the information to other local pastoralists and vested government agencies.

The stations run about 26,000 head of cattle.