Minister for transport approves hundreds of trucking movements in Mid West as rail negotiations take place

More road trains will be making trips on Mid West roads after an interim licence was granted to a hauling contractor to transport iron ore from a mine east of Perenjori to Geraldton Port. Residents can expect to see hundreds more trucking movements each week over the next three months as Terra Mining restarts mining operations at Extension Hill, located on the Great Northern Highway in the Shire of Yalgoo. Hauling contractor Campbell Transport’s trucking schedule will increase to 160 trucking movements per week in January, 250 movements a week in February and 317 movements a week in March. That’s 23, 36 and 45 trucking movements per day respectively. More heavy vehicle traffic will be travelling on Brand Hwy, Wubin-Mullewa Highway, Wanarra Road and Perenjori Rothsay Road as the trucks make trips to and from the mine. The planned increase in heavy vehicle traffic was approved by Transport Minister Rita Saffioti last year while the commercial rail sector and mining company discuss transporting the mineral by rail in future. A State Government spokesperson said the interim licences are valid until March 31 and have been put in place while commercial negotiations on the transport of iron ore by rail are finalised. “The Department of Transport has issued interim commercial goods vehicle licences (CGVLs) to Terra Mining’s road haulage contractor, Campbell Transport, to facilitate their first iron ore shipment through Geraldton Port, anticipated to be in February 2024,” the spokesperson said. Shire of Perenjori chief executive Paul Anderson said he hoped rail transport would be utilised in future to reduce heavy haulage traffic on rural roads. “While any increase in large vehicles is always a concern on country roads, we hope the haulage contractor will be responsible in the movement of the product,” he said. “I hope the short-term inconvenience will be a long-term gain for the community overall.” Shadow Minister for Transport Shane Love MLA said he understood it was only happening by road because there is no access point to load the iron ore onto rail, despite there being a privately owned rail sliding near Perenjori. “There are a number of other potential mines in the area who could use such a facility in the future, avoiding trucks on the roads,” he said. “I call on the Minister to intervene to ensure a common-use facility is established to enable ore to travel to Geraldton Port via rail, and to get this in place as soon as possible.”