The Western Australian Government has announced it has granted approval to a number of proposals by Rio Tinto to expand its iron ore operations in the Pilbara.

The $3 billion plan will see the mining giant construct a new major, 130MW power station at Cape Lambert and expand its Nammuldi mine.

Premier Colin Barnett said the planned development would help sustain the state’s strong economic performance.

“This major investment by Rio Tinto will create almost 1,500 construction jobs and secure ongoing employment for more than 700 people,” Mr Barnett said.

“The Nammuldi mine, 60km north-west of Tom Price, includes a major investment in mine infrastructure, which will see iron ore mined below the water table and increase the mine’s production limit from eight to 23 million tonnes a year.”

“At Cape Lambert, Rio Tinto will build a state-of-the-art, fuel efficient 130MW power station to feed into Rio Tinto’s integrated power network.  This additional power source will help meet the port’s power needs as annual capacity grows from 85 million tonnes to 235 million tonnes by 2015.”

Mr Barnett said approvals for the Nammuldi project were granted under the Iron Ore (Hamersley Range) Agreement Act 1963 and for the Cape Lambert Power station, the Iron Ore (Robe River) Agreement Act 1964.  Both State agreements are managed by the Department of State Development.  Rio Tinto has received environmental approval for both projects.