Premier Mark McGowan today visited Naval Base to inspect work on major bridges for Fortescue Metals Group’s (Fortescue) $1.7 billion Eliwana Mine and Railway Project and announced approval for Stage 2 of the railway component.
The Premier also announced the grant of a Special Rail Licence for the project to allow Fortescue to start hiring people immediately, enabling 600 to 720 new jobs to be created in the next three months.
The Eliwana railway project, which is expected to create 1,120 jobs during construction, includes 143 kilometres of single track, standard gauge heavy haul railway, two bridge railway crossings and an underpass for the Karratha-Tom Price Road.
The 2,600 tonnes of steel fabrication being produced at Naval Base by Pacific Industrial Company includes 16 bridge modules up to 46 metres long, creating 100 local jobs and apprenticeship opportunities.
Over three quarters, around $1 billion, of the investment in the Eliwana project has gone to 290 Western Australian-based businesses, with about nine per cent going to businesses in other parts of Australia.
Nineteen Aboriginal businesses have been awarded contracts worth $25.5 million.
When the project is completed in December, the railway will have an initial capacity of 30 million tonnes a year.
Fortescue was a member of the Premier’s steel fabrication roundtable, convened to create more opportunities for local steel fabricating businesses on major projects.
Western Australia is the world’s biggest iron ore producer, accounting for 38 per cent of global supply in 2019.
As stated by Premier Mark McGowan:
“It’s outstanding to see the majority of the work on this mammoth $1.7 billion project happening right here in Western Australia.
“Eliwana is a huge project not only for Fortescue but for a lot of small to medium enterprises in Western Australia and for the 2,400 workers in total who are expected to get jobs out of it.
“This is one of a number of major projects coming online in the next few years, and another sign that confidence is returning to the State’s economy.”
